The Containment of China: Adapting Gaddis’s Framework to a New Era of Strategic Rivalry
The Containment of China: Adapting Gaddis’s Framework to a New Era of Strategic Rivalry John Lewis Gaddis’s framework of containment—centered on preventing a rival power’s expansion beyond its existing sphere while exploiting its internal weaknesses—provides a comprehensive lens for analyzing contemporary U.S. strategy toward China. The ongoing trade war, characterized by tariffs on over $360 billion in Chinese imports with rates ranging from 10% to 100% in critical sectors such as semiconductors, electric vehicles, and steel, exemplifies asymmetrical strongpoint containment. Rather than pursuing comprehensive economic isolation, the United States employs selective measures—bolstered by tariff exclusions for over 350 product categories—to protect vital supply chains while maintaining interdependence. Taiwan functions as the central strategic linchpin, producing 90% of the world’s most advanced semiconductors, making its defense essential to containing Chinese dominance over the first...