UC Irvine

This dissertation addresses shifts in global power structures resulting from long arcs of systemic processes. I employ mixed methods in order to interrogate the roles of policy and ideology in constructing these dynamics. Data was collected from a mixture of policy documents and communications, news articles, government publications, and economic databases. Documents were coded and analyzed in order to investigate the relevant case studies, with contextual information provided from quantitative data. I find that the United States implemented policies that resulted in the creation of a new archipelago of capital based in East Asia, particularly in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. The US provision of economic, military, trade, and diplomatic support allowed the flourishing of banking, finance, and capital markets within these states and allowed them to rapidly advance their industrial output. This archipelago of capital ultimately became a massive pool from which China could draw once the United States began drawing down its involvement in the region. The United States became wary of Japan as a threat to its hegemony due to Japan’s rapid growth. As a result, the US implemented new trade policies and economic punishments. Chinese development policy was heavily oriented towards protectionist measures, under which it invested heavily in internal development. Following reforms, China opened itself up to rapid accelerations in trade and foreign investment, particularly from partner nations in the East Asian capital archipelago. As a result of its non- dependent development and its economic weight, China is much more robust to potential responses by the United States than previous hegemonic competitors. The Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) serves as a major step toward a more China-oriented world-system, and marks a shift away from neoliberally oriented forms of development finance toward one of nationalist developmentalism on the part of China. Marketing around the BRI has focused on cooperation, geography, and progressive environmental aspects, leveraging dissatisfaction with the US- backed neoliberal model of development finance to position itself as the lender of first choice. Policy choices made by the United States and China have made a direct impact on flows of capital and affect sites of hegemonic contest. This project demonstrates how the US constructed a world order, off the back of which China was then able to launch its own bid for prominent placement in the network of global power.