Course Content and Objectives

The US-China bilateral relationship is in its worst shape since the two nations normalized diplomatic relations in 1979. The deterioration in Sino-American relations, and the intensely competitive rivalry that has developed, have important implications for the rest of the world, including the business sector. This module-length course has two principal goals: (i) to leave students with a significantly better understanding of this most consequential bilateral relationship, and of the multiple dimensions of the rivalry; and (ii) to expose students to a range of perspectives, encouraging them to challenge and refine their own.

Among the rivalry dimensions on which class sessions will focus are the competitions (i) of economies and political systems; (ii) for national security; (iii) for technology leadership; and (iv) for “global leadership” (as each principal conceives it). The course will be reading-intensive. It will not be case-based. It will emphasize practitioner-oriented readings (e.g. articles from Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy; Council on Foreign Relations, Brookings, RAND and Belfer Center reports; book chapters; speeches, transcripts and official policy statements); along with a few articles from scholarly journals. The course will also feature guest speakers (1-2 of whom may need to be scheduled outside class hours to accommodate speaker schedules/time zones). Assigned readings and guest speakers will represent a diversity of views. The course aims to help students further refine the substantive world views they will have been developing at HBS, while enhancing capacity for perspective-taking and empathy.

Students will likely find that the course will afford them an opportunity to productively draw on concepts and frameworks from multiple HBS courses they will have taken.

A broad range of students should find this course interesting and relevant. Among them: those for whom the subject matter is intrinsically fascinating; those who expect that Sino-American geopolitics may significantly impact the broad context of their professional lives; and those whose careers (e.g. in strategy consulting, corporate leadership, equity investing) may be still more directly shaped by the evolution of this pivotal bilateral relationship.

Note: This Fall Q2 course is a module-length (1.5 credit) alternative to the 3.0 credit course being offered in Spring 2023; students may not take both courses. While the broad topics addressed in these courses will be very similar, the Q3Q4 course’s 12 two-hour sessions (compared to this module’s 6) will permit those topics to be addressed in greater depth, and with still more discussion. This Fall Q2 module should appeal to students eager to deepen their understanding of the US-China rivalry and its key dimensions, but whose schedules and/or competing interests make the Q3Q4 course infeasible.

Course Grading

Students will be graded based on the following: (i) 40% on class participation; (ii) 20% on short-answer assignments submitted prior to class meetings; and (iii) 40% on the final paper.

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