ABSTRACT
This chapter examines major challenges in contemporary global politics. China's challenge to United States (US) hegemony is another major issue, and is related to nonproliferation. America and China have competing interests, but as great powers they also have common interests in curbing nuclear proliferation and managing climate change. The challenge of nuclear nonproliferation and the rise of China are among the most pressing issues on the global agenda. Although vertical proliferation – increasing armaments by an existing nuclear power like America or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) – slowed after the Cold War, horizontal proliferation – acquisition of nuclear weapons by additional states – became a serious problem. The Sino-Soviet split in the mid-1960s marked the beginning of a period of American engagement with China, as it appeared that the two countries had a common adversary in the USSR. The US has sought to promote human rights in China, a policy China regards as interference in its internal affairs.
