A New American Think Tank And Its Strategic Study Of China

Think tanks serve as an indispensable part in American political life. As brain trustsfor American policy makers, thinks tanks provide reliable analysis and useful adviceson public policy, and exert profound influence on U.S. foreign policy-making process.Since the beginning of the21stcentury, the United States is facing increasinglydiverse and complex challenges. Against this backdrop, new think tanks emerged tosolve these new problems. Among them, the Center for American Progress, the Centerfor a New American Security and the Center for Global Developments are the mostfast-growing ones. Although still young and lack of experience, the new think tanksare quickly gaining influence on U.S. politics, and have become a new force to bereckoned with in the foreign policy-making of the Obama administration. China-USrelation is a key research area for most of the new think tanks as the two countriesbecome more closely intertwined in the new century. New think tanks’ studies onChina and China-US relations largely reveal the complicated nature of this bilateralrelationship that features mutual interdependence and competition. They have workedout a new U.S. strategy for working with a rising China that rests on a three-leggedstool of engaging, binding, and balancing, which is largely accepted by the Obamaadministration. Guiding by this new thinking, Obama’s China policy during his firstterm can be characterized as the combination of “comprehensive cooperation” and“limited restriction”. The new think tanks indeed provide us with a useful perspectiveto understand America’s current China policy.