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Article: China, the United States, and the Soviet Union: Tripolarity and Policymaking in the Cold War.
- Article from:
- American Political Science Review
- Article date:
- September 1, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Cambridge University Press. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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There is no consensus among students of international relations on the efficacy of the strategic triangle as an analytical tool for studying the interactions among China, the Soviet Union, and the United States. By contrast, the six contributors to this volume adhere--albeit to varying degrees--to the view that the strategic triangle is a useful concept. Nonetheless, as Chi Su's insightful chapter notes, the strategic triangle suffers from three major drawbacks as an analytical concept. First, it overestimates the weight and range of China's power. Although the United States tended to treat the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the superpower that some leading American ...