Since entering the period of great-power competition, the discussion around the Cold War analogy and U.S.-China relations has never been settled: in policy community, whether China and the United States are already in a “new Cold War” and whether the United States should launch a “new Cold War” against China are currently hot topics related to U.S.-China relations. However, in academic research, whether the Cold War analogy has had a substantial impact on the U.S.’s China policy needs further study. Under President Biden’s leadership, the U.S. escalated the strategic competition with China, with many aspects reflecting distinct Cold War-era dynamics. This article contributes to the existing literature by analyzing the Biden administration’s use of Cold War historical lessons on its China policy. The importance of this study is two-fold: theocratically, it suggests that historical analogy does play a critical role in shaping foreign policy decision-making; practically, it reveals that some aspects of contemporary foreign practice of the United States during President Biden’s term are deeply rooted in the past, which are likely to persist into and intensify in the coming years, therefore providing insights into understanding U.S.–China relations in Trump’s second term.

Keywords: Historical Analogy, Biden Administration, U.S.-China Relations, New Cold War, Great-Power Competition

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Conflicts of Interest:

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to report regarding the present study.

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Lessons of the Cold War and Biden Administration’s China Policy