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Great power dynamics and international economic cooperation: Experimental evidence from parallel surveys in China and the United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2026

Quynh Nguyen ,
Thomas Sattler  and
Tanja Schweinberger
Quynh Nguyen*
Affiliation:
Wyss Academy for Nature, University of Bern, Switzerland Institute of Political Science, University of Bern, Switzerland
Thomas Sattler
Affiliation:
Department of Political Sciences and International Relations, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Tanja Schweinberger
Affiliation:
Department of International Relations and International Organization, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
*
Address for correspondence: Quynh Nguyen, Wyss Academy for Nature, University of Bern, 3011 Bern, Switzerland. Email: quynh.nguyen@wyssacademy.org
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Abstract

Power transitions among major states have shaped the course of cooperation in the history of the international system. We study this relationship from a public opinion angle by examining the effect of a potential power transition on attitudes towards bilateral trade liberalization. Power transitions can spur political and economic conflict because the rising power gains greater influence over the course of world politics, including trade rules, allowing it to assert its national interest and the interests of its citizens. This implies that citizens in the rising power are more supportive of bilateral economic cooperation than citizens in the declining power. Empirical findings from parallel, survey‐embedded experiments in China and the United States lend support to this conjecture. Great Power competition, therefore, interferes with current international economic affairs – an aspect that has received less attention in previous research on trade politics.

Keywords

power transitionunequal gainstradeinternational cooperationpublic opinion

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Type
Research Article
Information
European Journal of Political Research , Volume 64 , Issue 3 , August 2025 , pp. 1189 - 1207
Copyright
Copyright © 2024 European Consortium for Political Research.

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