From nonproliferation to strategic competition: US export controls and China
Technological competition is at the heart of the renewed great-power competition that has characterized relations between the USA and China since the 2010s. The role of technological innovation in the evolution of power relations is already recognized in the literature of international relations. However, developments in US technology policy under the last two administrations raise the reverse question: how does the perception of changing power relations (in this case, Chinese technological catch-up perceived as a threat to US leadership) transform policies granting or denying access to technological innovation?
This study sheds light on the transformation in the American conception of export controls: mainly conceived in the post-Cold War era as a law enforcement and nonproliferation tool, it has become a strategic instrument to restrict technology transfers to the People’s Republic of China. Using a Foreign Policy Analysis approach based on the analysis of legal texts, speeches, and interviews with the political actors involved, this article examines the policy process, leading to this fundamental change in US export control policy. As this study demonstrates, this change reflects a new interpretation of the link between economic and security interests, as well as the expansion of the perimeter of American national security.
This article was published in International Politics.
Visit Springer Nature's website to access Mathilde Velliet's article, which is only available in English.
Mathilde Velliet is a research fellow at Ifri's Center for Geopolitics of Technology.
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Mathilde VELLIET
Research Fellow, Center for Geopolitics of Technology, Ifri
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Center for Geopolitics of Technology
Artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, cybersecurity, robotics, semiconductors, space... Technology, especially in the digital domain, is now deeply affecting all human activities and, by extension, international relations. The resulting political, strategic, economic and social issues manifest themselves at multiple political scales involving states, international organizations and private companies. The dynamics of international competition and cooperation are transformed.
It is to respond to these challenges that Ifri is launching the Geopolitics of Technology program in the fall of 2020, which builds on the work it already carried out on these subjects for several years.
The program takes a resolutely European approach to international issues related to so-called critical technologies. Its work is organized around four cross-cutting themes:
- Power: redistributions of power caused by new technologies, in particular digital; military and dual innovations; transformations of international competition;
- Sovereignty: definition of critical infrastructures and technologies; industrial and innovation policies in strategic sectors; opportunities and risks associated with international value chains;
- Governance: ethical and legal issues; interactions between companies, states, international organizations and users; public-private partnerships and GovTech;
- Society: political and social impacts of technological innovations; risks and opportunities for the future of work, health, the fight against climate change; connectivity and economic development.
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