US economic statecraft towards China: The case of technological sanctions

This dissertation applies Baldwin's economic statecraft conceptualization and analysis framework to the US economic measures against the Chinese actors during the Obama and Trump administrations period (2009-2020). By following the criteria outlined by Baldwin, this dissertation introduces a "technological statecraft" concept based on a definition of instrumentalizing technology for foreign policy goals. Utilization of technological strategy relies on the activation and mobilization of the US technological power base as a "carrot" and "stick". The US international leadership in critical and emerging technologies allows the US to rely on the technological power base in the pursuit of foreign policy goals. This case shows that despite the contrary arguments, economic statecraft and its sub-category technological statecraft are by no means a "lost art" in the US foreign policy. In the design of technological restrictions, various US domestic political institutions, including the Congress, executive, judiciary, the industry and NGOs were involved. From among these, the US high technology MNCs` voicing for a "run faster" approach was not able to reverse the national security-based state policy during the Trump administration. In this context, domestic economic and technological interests were also factored into national security concern during the Trump administration. This study also extends Baldwin's "logic of choice" from among alternative statecraft instruments by including the domestic political economic setup into the formulation of the logic of choice from among alternative economic statecraft instruments. The rationale behind the logic of choice of technological instruments against China are two: First, the nature of challenge prompted the US to find proper instrument to respond. Second, the US model of innovation based on radical technologies provides the US policymakers with competitive advantage/ asymmetrical power in confronting China. In this respect, the logic of choice is conditioned by the shape of the variety of the domestic political economy as well as the nature of the external challenge. Considering the multiple faces of power that Baldwin denotes, the utility of Baldwin's analysis framework has been confirmed in this case study of the US economic measures towards China. Economic statecraft in general and technological instruments in particular promise utility in international politics especially in bargaining, signaling, and making credible commitments in an efficient way, more than merely creating "changes" in the target, which is only one of the "faces" of power. Accordingly, these functions need to be considered as indicators of the effectiveness and efficiency of economic strategies. In sum, despite the persistence of the "sanctions do not work" camp, the new practices of the states signal the opposite and call for new studies. Keywords: Economic statecraft, technological statecraft, technological sanctions, China, Obama administrations, Trump administration