Degree

BS (Social Sciences & Liberal Arts)

Faculty / School

School of Economics and Social Sciences (SESS)

Department

Department of Social Sciences & Liberal Arts

Date of Award

Spring 2026

Date of Submission

2026-06-11

Advisor

Dr. Muhammad Bilal Munshi, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences

Committee

Dr. Arslan Waheed, Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi

Project Type

SSLA Culminating Experience

Access Type

Restricted Access

Keywords

China, United States, Imperialism, Confucianism, Authoritarianism

Abstract

The unipolar moment has passed; the United States is no longer the sole superpower. The United States does not possess the power to force its will upon all the countries around the globe. Russia, China, Vietnam, and more recently Iran, exist as examples of countries which the United States cannot bend to its will. But while all of these aforementioned countries possess the capabilities to survive a military assault by the United States, only one of these countries – China – is developing its economy and soft power as well. China today stands as the most formidable rival for the United States today. China is also a country that functions on antithetical systems and structures to those of the United States. How does this contradiction between democracy and authoritarianism, and free-market capitalism vs state capitalism, resolve itself; and in the process of this resolution how do the United States and China engage one another? What are the underlying motivations behind either country’s interactions with one another? To what end are these interactions being carried out? What are the historical precedents that define how these countries can engage one another? The research question itself, how does regime typology influence the interaction between the United States and China? And so on are some of the questions answered here. The value of China’s Confucian ideology and the impetus it provides for peaceful interactions is contrasted with the United States’ imperialistic tendencies to show how either country has engaged other countries and what that means for the future of their interactions with one another.

Pages

iv, 50

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