PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · Changing International Political Order
Discuss the consequences of Trump’s “America First” and Xi’s “Chinese Dream” on World Politics.
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
R1 define both (America First, 2016: nationalist, unilateralist / Chinese Dream, 2013: national rejuvenation, return of the Middle Kingdom) → US steps back, China steps in → halves of one power transition R2 the order's architect retreats while its challenger advances — one process, not two — world politics reshaped but not settled
Body flow
America First in practice (patriotism over globalism, UN 2018 — TPP abandoned — WTO dispute settlement blocked — JCPOA scrapped — allied burden-sharing) — Krauthammer / Wright: return of mercantilism — Chinese Dream in practice (China-centric globalisation: AIIB against Bretton Woods — BRI — A2/AD for regional hegemony) — East and South China Seas: territorial status quo and international law rejected — decline of Pax Americana — Allison: Thucydides Trap → balancing responses: Quad, Indo-Pacific, Cold War 2.0 → Chellaney: G-2 trap, forced choice for third states
Counter-view
China's counter-claim: it is the status quo power, the US the real revisionist (decades of spreading liberalism and markets) — Ikenberry / Nye: this phase more complex than Cold War 1 — interdependence, not ideology
Conclusion routes
$ R1 Hass / Rapp-Hooper: no consensus on net impact — order reshaped, not settled R2 the shape of the transition stays open — it turns on how the transition is managed
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
