My way or the highway. That’s one way of characterizing unsuccessful U.S. policy toward China over recent decades. My old friend Kurt Campbell and Ely Ratner have penned a piece in the current issue of Foreign Affairs (March/April) that is something of a confession – a stark “reckoning” in their term – that we have failed to mold China to our liking. No kidding.
The authors rightly contend that America’s varied strategic approaches to China – and Dr. Campbell was responsible for implementing President Obama’s “Pivot to Asia” – have not bent Beijing to our will. “The record is increasingly clear,” they write, “that Washington once again put too much faith in its power to shape China’s trajectory. All sides of the policy debate erred."
Campbell and Ratner urge intelligent introspection by U.S. policy makers, embracing the realpolitik that we cannot simply dictate our expectations to a smart, highly competitive peer nation. They call for a new-found humility and honesty in our approach to China that “recognizes how many fundamental assumptions have turned out wrong."
Sadly, quaint notions of intelligence, introspection, honesty and humility will never occur during the dismal miasma of the current U.S. Administration, so one can only hope these lessons are applied someday in the not-too-distant future. It’s a future, by the way, in which the U.S. will need to reclaim our recently surrendered leadership positions in Asia-Pacific trade as well as the trillion-dollar green-energy market.
The authors never use the term “emotional intelligence” in their article, but it
really is the central thesis of their argument. Indeed, the U.S. has demonstrated
very limited EQ in clumsily attempting to push China using some carrots and many
heavy-handed sticks. It hasn’t worked. Why weren't we able to see the world from
the reality of their perspective, no matter how repugnant some find it to be, and
devise effective, tough-minded strategy accordingly? Why did we continue,
instead, to delude ourselves into thinking we could simply force China to do what
we want? It’s a two-way street and not simply my way or the highway.
There’s a vital
lesson here for individual leaders, too. After all, it grows increasingly and
painfully more difficult in contemporary society for bosses to demand and
expect unilateral obedience. Ambitious, highly talented employees have options.
They want to be heard. They don’t like strong-arm tactics. They like to
compete. And sure, they may want your job, too. So be it. Work with it. Bring
out the best in them and you’ll bring out the best in yourself. Sure, you’re
the boss. The more you think of these “subordinate” relationships as productive
partnerships, however, the better boss you will be and the more likely you and your organization will prosper.
Image courtesy of South China Morning Post.