Tensions and changes in the post-Cold War era international order: Challenges for Argentine-Chinese relations in a context of “polycrisis”

Abstract

Changes in the international order portend a world of tension, where both major powers and emerging countries are decisively affected. The rise of China, the various crises (climate, pandemic, and war), and the United States' lack of response capacity alter not only international relations but the entire global economic system. The responses to this polycrisis by the disputing powers reveal the profound nature of the conflict, which is the challenge of strengthening productive capacity and the role of industry and technology to confront the global competition and the reconfiguration of production. In a globalized world (productively and financially), public policies and the role of state capacities are fundamental to success or failure in the face of the loss of competitiveness and markets. In this context, more than 80 percent of world trade is in manufacturing, and China accounts for 30 percent of industrial production. For Argentina, the challenge is to deal with the rising power that is China in a context of tension and change, while simultaneously implementing policies that allow it to develop and strengthen its productive and industrial infrastructure to more fully integrate into the global economy.