Comparative Exceptionalism: Universality and Particularity in Foreign Policy Discourses

Nymalm, Nicola; Plagemann, Johannes

doi:10.1093/isr/viy008

Cited by 29 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Neither were the policies it followed, particularly Chinese in origin. We side more with Naughton (2010) and Kroeber (2016) in their understanding of China, leaning closer to developmental state models and dirigiste policies pursued by Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea, rather than the smaller facilitating state of NSE. Even though NSE's focus on SEZs and FDIs is largely correct in that it formed a crucial part of China's reform and opening policy and economic development (which Kroeber [2016] and Chen and Naughton [2016] highlight), the theory eschews the interventionist role of the state.…”

Section: The China Model Nse and China-africa Relationsmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Hence, the intentionality and premeditated coherence of the China model can be questioned. And while Naughton (2010) acknowledges that other states can learn from the institutional features that characterize China's development, he is wary of their universal applicability given that they are closely connected to initial economic conditions unique to China. Even so, China is often understood as "an example to others of what can be done, and an example of other ways of doing things (as well as an alternative economic partner)" (Breslin 2011(Breslin , 1324.…”

Section: Tapping Into the China Model Debatementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even so, China is often understood as “an example to others of what can be done, and an example of other ways of doing things (as well as an alternative economic partner)” (Breslin 2011, 1324). This emphasis on China as an exemplar is integral to notions of Chinese exceptionalism (Alden and Large 2011; Nymalm and Plagemann 2019). This further connects to Justin Lin who views China as an economic exemplar for other states to learn from as they endeavor to develop.…”

Section: Tapping Into the China Model Debatementioning

confidence: 99%

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China as Exemplar: Justin Lin, New Structural Economics, and the Unorthodox Orthodoxy of the China Model

Åberg

Becker

2020

Politics & Policy

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Despite vociferous disagreement by scholars and ambivalence by China over a "China Model" of development, China is still held up as an exemplar of development. Nowhere is this clearer than in the theory of New Structural Economics (NSE) promulgated by the former Chief Economist of the World Bank, Justin Lin. We seek to critically engage Lin's theory apropos of China and China's geopolitical and economic interests in Africa. Lin argues that developing countries can learn from China's development experience, and his theory, NSE, fills this experience with theoretical content. China, though often dismissive of a "China Model," gains a soft power advantage from its association with NSE as an exemplar and from Lin's own role in rationalizing China-Africa economic interests in purely analytical and intellectual terms. In Ethiopia, the regime actively heeded Lin's policy advice and implemented development policies in line with his theoretical model. Justin Lin's "China Model" is not an antagonistic model, but part of mainstream economic theorizing. It does not represent a competing counter-hegemonic model. It is complementary to the global capitalist system. This is the unorthodox orthodoxy of Justin Lin's "China Model."

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Section: The China Model Nse and China-africa Relationsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Tapping Into the China Model Debatementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Tapping Into the China Model Debatementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

China as Exemplar: Justin Lin, New Structural Economics, and the Unorthodox Orthodoxy of the China Model

Åberg

Becker

2020

Politics & Policy

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“…40 It also differed from notions of national "exceptionalism," or the belief that a nation's uniqueness and moral superiority entitled it to violate international rules. 41 Schmitt's concept of unlimited discretionary power, by contrast, was intrinsically and exclusively that of the individual sovereign, who sat "above and outside the restraints of the existing legal order." 42…”

Section: Extralegal Sovereigntymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Right to Dominate: How Old Ideas About Sovereignty Pose New Challenges for World Order

Paris¹

2020

Int Org

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AbstractA principal theme of international relations scholarship following the Cold War was the apparent erosion of state sovereignty caused by globalization's integrative effects and the proliferation of international institutions and networks. In recent years, however, scholars have noted a reverse trend: the reassertion of traditional, or Westphalian, state sovereignty. By contrast, I highlight another recent trend that has gone largely overlooked: the reaffirmation of older “extralegal” and “organic” versions of sovereignty by three of the world's most powerful states—Russia, China, and the United States. After tracing the genealogy of these older concepts, I consider how and why they have gained prominence in the official discourse of all three countries. I also explore the implications of this shift, which not only illustrates the importance of “norm retrieval” in international affairs, but also raises questions about the foundations of international order. Contrary to Westphalian sovereignty, which emphasizes the legal equality of states and the principle of noninterference in domestic affairs, the extralegal and organic versions offer few constraints on state action. If anything, they appear to license powerful states to dominate others.

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“…In a recent contribution,Nymalm and Plagemann (2019) also suggested a categorization of different exceptionalist foreign-policy discourses. Through the analysis of Chinese, Indian, Turkish and U.S. discourses, their two-dimensional framework identifies civilizational, imperialist, globalist, and internationalist categories of exceptionalisms.…”

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confidence: 99%

Identity Crisis in U.S. Foreign Policy: Discourses of Greatness and Exceptionalism after 2008

Tabor¹

2020

COJOURN

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By the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, the United States had to face a number of interrelated crises: the economic and financial crisis of 2008-09 coincided with the military overexpansion resulting from interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq. These developments culminated in a crisis of foreign-policy identity: the notion refers to a situation in which well-established conceptions of a country's role in the international system are questioned, and new conceptions are created and reproduced. For the U.S., this manifested in a challenge to the unipolar leadership role that had been widely accepted in the post-Cold War era. Surprisingly, this did not lead to the disappearance of discourses of "American exceptionalism" and "greatness." On the contrary, these ideas gained even greater significance in the foreign-policy debates of the 2010s, although their precise meaning was the subject of intense contestation. What explains this resurgence of exceptionalist rhetoric, and how can we characterize the different themes that appeared in these debates? The article introduces a new theoretical framework for understanding discourses of U.S. exceptionalism, and briefly examines the discourses of the Obama and the Trump presidencies. This analysis can highlight how the use of certain terms may accompany decisive changes in U.S. foreign policy, and how especially the presidency of Donald Trump signals a shift in the understanding of U.S. national role conception.

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Comparative Exceptionalism: Universality and Particularity in Foreign Policy Discourses

Cited by 29 publications

References 60 publications

China as Exemplar: Justin Lin, New Structural Economics, and the Unorthodox Orthodoxy of the China Model

China as Exemplar: Justin Lin, New Structural Economics, and the Unorthodox Orthodoxy of the China Model

The Right to Dominate: How Old Ideas About Sovereignty Pose New Challenges for World Order

Identity Crisis in U.S. Foreign Policy: Discourses of Greatness and Exceptionalism after 2008

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