American Tianxia is a term coined by the historian

Wang Gungwu Wang Gungwu, (; born 9 October 1930) is a Chinese-Singaporean historian, sinologist, and writer. He is a historian of China and Southeast Asia. He has studied and written about the Chinese diaspora, but he has objected to the use of the word ' ...

in 2013 to refer to the contemporary global order centered on the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It was further developed by sociologist

Salvatore Babones Salvatore Babones (born October 5, 1969) is an American sociologist, and an associate professor at the University of Sydney. Biography He received PhD from Johns Hopkins University in 2003. From 2003 to 2008 he has been a professor of sociology ...

to analyze today's millennial

world-system A world-system is a socioeconomic system, under systems theory, that encompasses part or all of the globe, detailing the aggregate structural result of the sum of the interactions between polities. World-systems are usually larger than single s ...

through the lens of the Chinese concept of ''

tianxia ''Tianxia'' (), literally meaning "(all) under Heaven", is a Chinese term for a historical Chinese cultural concept that denoted either the entire geographical world or the metaphysical realm of mortals, and later became associated with polit ...

'', meaning "all under heaven." While the United States is often called an "

empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

," this is a historically loaded term that is associated with perceptions of

American imperialism American imperialism refers to the expansion of American political, economic, cultural, and media influence beyond the boundaries of the United States. Depending on the commentator, it may include imperialism through outright military conquest ...

. The concept of ''tianxia'' has a different set of meanings attached to it that Wang suggests and Babones argues are closer to what the United States actually displays in its contemporary approach to foreign affairs.

Background

The original Chinese term ''

'' describes a

that, according to Wang, described "an enlightened realm that Confucian thinkers and mandarins raised to one of universal values that determined who was civilized and who was not." The term first became widely used during the

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...

where China was the central state with a

Mandate of Heaven The Mandate of Heaven () is a Chinese political philosophy that was used in ancient and imperial China to legitimize the rule of the King or Emperor of China. According to this doctrine, heaven (天, ''Tian'') – which embodies the natural ...

bestowed upon the king, or the

Son of Heaven Son of Heaven, or ''Tianzi'' (), was the sacred monarchical title of the Chinese sovereign. It originated with the Zhou dynasty and was founded on the political and spiritual doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven. Since the Qin dynasty, the secula ...

. In this system, China was the center of the world to which peripheral states were connected under the

Imperial Chinese tributary system The tributary system of China (), or Cefeng system () was a network of loose international relations focused on China which facilitated trade and foreign relations by acknowledging China's predominant role in East Asia. It involved multiple relati ...

, in which trade envoys from aligned countries would be given highly favorable exchanges for their allegiance to the imperial court. It was found that in extending Chinese territory, it was much easier to let each conquered area keep their aristocracy than to fully attempt to control their peoples. Despite the assumed sovereignty, Chinese language, culture and loyalty were strongly imposed and their status was based upon their proximity to China as a satellite state. States were separated as "

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...

" and "non-Confucian". Confucian states had adopted Chinese customs, calendars and language. Problems within states were approached through Confucian philosophy. Non-Confucian states were aligned with the Chinese Tianxia, but less integrated. Non-Confucian states would often solve disputes through China as a central power in the region and resembled the 'periphery' states of the modern

world-systems theory World-systems theory (also known as world-systems analysis or the world-systems perspective)Immanuel Wallerstein, (2004), "World-systems Analysis." In ''World System History'', ed. George Modelski, in ''Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems'' (E ...

. A hierarchy of individuals within the Chinese Tianxia went from the emperor, down to various officials, then citizens and then foreigners, which were considered to be "barbarians" or "less civilised." Within this concept, the role of 'barbarian' can be taken by Chinese and the barbarians can become enlightened Chinese through Confucian philosophy, it generally followed that the Chinese were under heaven and outsiders were accepted, although as lesser citizens. The Chinese Tianxia in East Asia ended after China's defeat in the

First Opium War The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of the ...

after which the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

made the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

accept their sovereignty and accept them as equals. This cast doubt upon the mandate of the ''tianxia'' and the concept was seen to be dissolved.

American Tianxia

Babones conceives the American Tianxia as a central state system in which ties between countries are either aligned with the United States, opposed to the United States, or modulated by the United States. In addition to countries, he also argues that individuals are linked into global hierarchies that are centered on the United States. In Babones' view, the individualism of this system constitutes the fulfillment of the

End of History The end of history is a political and philosophical concept that supposes that a particular political, economic, or social system may develop that would constitute the end-point of humanity's sociocultural evolution and the final form of human go ...

thesis of

Francis Fukuyama Francis Yoshihiro Fukuyama (; born October 27, 1952) is an American political scientist, political economist, international relations scholar and writer. Fukuyama is known for his book ''The End of History and the Last Man'' (1992), which argue ...

, which posits that liberal democratic capitalism is the final ideological destination for nations on Earth. While this notion is contentious, the American Tianxia has a firm grip on the direction of the world economy and world polity through control of security worldwide and the firm grip on the economic and international extra government institutions that are seen as legitimate to interfere with internal politics in sovereign countries. Even more important, in Babones' formulation, is that globalized individuals in the American Tianxia have strong incentives to maintain the structure of the existing world-system. An example of the way in which American power is accepted worldwide can be seen in the way in which American domestic politics is globalized. No other polity is so widely observed as the United States, where presidential elections are often viewed across the whole world. The political scientist

Yuen Foong Khong Yuen Foong Khong (; born 1956) is the Li Ka Shing Professor of Political Science at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. He was previously Professor of International Relations at Nuffield College, University ...

characterizes this as the American Tributary System, a system in which the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

is often referred to as the

leader of the free world The Free World is a propaganda term, primarily used during the Cold War from 1945 to 1991, to refer to the Western Bloc and similar countries. It also more broadly refers to all non-communist and democratic countries. It has traditionally prima ...

, similar to the Mandate of Heaven concept within the Chinese Tianxia. Khong suggests that while China has receded from being a ''tianxia'' to being an ordinary country, the United States has made the opposite transition, from country to ''tianxia''. The concept is very similar to

Pax Americana ''Pax Americana'' (Latin for "American Peace", modeled after ''Pax Romana'' and ''Pax Britannica''; also called the Long Peace) is a term applied to the concept of relative peace in the Western Hemisphere and later in the world after the end ...

Tianxia comparisons

In the American Tianxia, the primary way the United States influences the affairs of other countries is through the behavior of their own elites in looking to the United States for legitimation. This is similar to the Chinese Imperial Tianxia, in which leaders of the countries surrounding China received Chinese patents of office legitimating their rule. Like Imperial China, the United States does not ordinarily conquer countries in order to influence them, but instead achieves desired outcomes through

economic sanctions Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by one or more countries against a targeted self-governing state, group, or individual. Economic sanctions are not necessarily imposed because of economic circumstances—they may ...

, targeted attacks or strategic support of opposition forces. A striking difference between the old Chinese Tianxia and the new American Tianxia is reciprocity. The Chinese Tianxia established a tributary system where gifts received by the Chinese from

tributary states A tributary state is a term for a pre-modern state in a particular type of subordinate relationship to a more powerful state which involved the sending of a regular token of submission, or tribute, to the superior power (the suzerain). This to ...

were returned with gifts of much greater value, establishing their primacy and giving material legitimacy and loyalty through reward. America invests in foreign countries but often expects a greater return on that investment than what it offers others. In China, the United States is often accused of commanding loyalty through hegemony rather than through generosity.

Background

American Tianxia

Tianxia comparisons

See also

References

Further reading