Ye, MinZhu, Zhiqun2024-08-072024-08-072022-11-01M. Ye. 2022. "Better than Bipolar: US-China Competition from TPP to BRI and FOIP"https://hdl.handle.net/2144/49132Policy circles in the U.S. and China are full of skeptics of interdependence. Entering the intense stage of great-power contest, they have advocated decoupling as an acceptable--and even desirable--path forward. But, is interdependence truly that bad? Is it such a vulnerability to the warring states that decoupling should be actively pursued? Or, has interdependence also contributed to stability in the U.S-China rivalry? How? This chapter addresses the validity and limitations of three dominant bipolar perspectives--Thucydides’s Trap, Civilizational Clash, and Divided Peace. Then it presents the domestic processes of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Belt and Road Initiative, and the Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy. The analysis establishes that, while power and ideological conflicts are salient, these competing initiatives demonstrate "complex competition" embedded in an interdependent strategic environment. The interplay of domestic and transnational coalitions has worked to mitigate the great power rivalry in the recent decade.Book chapter2023-02-0610.1142/9789811258220_0005794930