BEYOND THE NEW COLD WAR DISCOURSE AFRO-EURASIA: THE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF THE CHINA–US RIVALRY ON REGIONAL ACTORS
Öz
In recent years, competition between China and the United States has increasingly been framed in the international literature through the lens of a “New Cold War.” This narrative, however, remains analytically insufficient to capture the complex and multi-layered nature of contemporary global power relations, particularly the growing strategic agency of regional actors across Afro-Eurasia. This article challenges the binary and deterministic assumptions embedded in the New Cold War discourse by conceptualizing Sino–American rivalry as a dynamic interaction shaped by the political and economic choices of Afro-Eurasian actors rather than as a zero-sum confrontation between two great powers.Employing a qualitative comparative approach combined with systematic document and discourse analysis, the study draws on Chinese policy white papers, U.S. National Security Strategies, and reports produced by the OECD, World Bank, and United Nations, alongside official foreign policy documents from African and Eurasian states. The findings demonstrate that regional actors increasingly pursue hedging strategies, strategic ambiguity, and multi-directional engagement rather than classical balancing or bandwagoning. In this context, the relationship between economic interdependence and political autonomy is being recalibrated, allowing Afro-Eurasian states to leverage great power competition as a means of enhancing strategic flexibility and bargaining capacity.The article argues that Afro-Eurasia should be understood not as a passive geopolitical arena but as an active constellation of actors capable of shaping the contours of great power rivalry. By moving beyond the New Cold War narrative, the study offers a more nuanced analytical framework for understanding contemporary power competition and contributes to the literature on middle powers, strategic autonomy, and global political economy.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Destekleyen Kurum
Etik Beyan
Kaynakça
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- COOPER, A. F., HIGGOTT, R. A., & NOSSAL, K. R. (1993). Relocating middle powers: Australia and Canada in a changing world order. Vancouver: UBC Press.
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Ayrıntılar
Birincil Dil
İngilizce
Konular
Amerika Çalışmaları, Asya Toplumu Çalışmaları, Bölgesel Çalışmalar, Uluslararası İlişkilerde Siyaset, Uluslararası Kuruluşlar
Bölüm
Araştırma Makalesi
Yazarlar
Cüneyt Yılmaz
*
0000-0003-1655-588X
Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti
Yayımlanma Tarihi
27 Mart 2026
Gönderilme Tarihi
11 Ocak 2026
Kabul Tarihi
27 Mart 2026
Yayımlandığı Sayı
Yıl 2026 Cilt: 11 Sayı: 22