The Ideology Trap: China and the Limits of Cold War Analogies

Abstract What role do ideological differences play in great power relations? Existing studies often treat ideological differences as fixed variables that exacerbate frictions between great powers. Instead, we treat ideologies as dynamic systems of ideas that evolve through domestic contestation and international adaptation. Our framework separates ideological content—whether states believe that their ideology is universally applicable—from the scope of ideological promotion—to what extent states seek to promote their ideology abroad. Specifically, our typology distinguishes between ideological strategies that are universalist or particularist in content, and expansive or selective in their scope of promotion. We use this framework to show how states can shift strategies over time without altering their underlying ideological commitments. We apply this framework to the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin and Leonid Brezhnev and to China under Deng Xiaoping and Xi Jinping. Our case studies show that there was no single Cold War, and that contemporary China differs in important ways from the Soviet Union.