Analysis Of The Socio-cultural Lens "american Awareness On The Rise Of China

As China becomes increasingly powerful in both the political and economic fields, China's rise has become a focus of the American political and academic communities as well as among ordinary American citizens. American's perception of China's rise can be analyzed and explained with different theoretical frameworks. This perception determines how America will deal with a rising China and will influence the Sino-U.S relationship in the years to come.The thesis begins by analyzing the basis of American's perception and misperception of China's rise within two different classic International Relations theoretical frameworks and their short comings in giving a full picture of how the American people view a rising China. The thesis then introduces the concept of "societal-cultural prism" and its role in the foreign policy decision-making process. The thesis explores the content of the "societal-cultural prism" which exists in American society and influences people's belief system and way of thinking, as well as how it affects America's perception of China's rise. Senators' speeches, positions, and opinions on a variety of China-related issues are used as examples to further illustrate its effects. In the end, based on the above analysis, the thesis suggests what China could do to decrease the impact of Americans' misperception of China's rise.