Current World-System and Conflicts

Under the Trump presidency, the United States and China were embroiled in an open trade war that threatened the neoliberal world order. This paper attempts to put forward an explanation of the trade war from a world-systems perspective. Using the world-systems theory, systemic cycles accumulation theory, and the new international division of labor thesis, the paper contends that the rise of China and the protectionist stance of the United States were products of the neoliberal world economic and political order. It concludes that the trade war has not ended with the end of the Trump presidency. On the contrary, the trade war is systemic and will continue to be fought regardless of which party or persons who occupy the White House. The willingness of the American leadership to use international institutions as dispute resolution mechanisms and avoid unilateral undertakings would define the nature of the trade war and its possible outcomes.