Contesting world orders: U.S.–China narrative competition and the role of middle powers

The field of international relations has long examined the material competition between the United States and China in areas such as economic statecraft, military power, and technological rivalry. However, less attention has been devoted to their contestation over values and strategic narratives. As geopolitical rivalry intensifies, both countries recognize the importance of their bilateral relationship as central to 21st-century global politics, while maintaining communication channels to manage cooperation and competition. Yet, this narrative contest unfolds in a complex global environment where middle powers and regional actors across the European Union, India, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the broader Global South actively interpret, negotiate, and reshape these narratives to advance their strategic and normative interests.Current research on U.S.–China diplomatic communication displays major gaps. Studies often focus on each country separately, examining their narratives in traditional diplomacy or digital platforms, with limited comparative and cross-regional analyses. The roles of middle powers and Global South entities in mediating, contesting, or appropriating U.S.–China narratives remain particularly understudied, even though these actors shape which visions of world order gain traction. Addressing these gaps is crucial to understanding how value-driven communication informs evolving perceptions of international order and legitimacy.This Research Topic aims to advance interdisciplinary analysis of how foreign policy narratives are constructed, diffused, and contested within U.S.–China competition and its broader global context. By fostering collaboration among communication, international relations, and global studies scholars, it seeks to generate comparative and evidence-based insights into how these discursive contests shape world politics and public understandings of ideological conflict.To gather further insights into the interplay of strategic narratives beyond the bilateral U.S.–China framework, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:o Comparative analyses of foreign policy narratives and strategic communication among the U.S., China, middle powers, and the wider Global South.o The positioning of middle powers and regional actors in aligning with, hedging between, resisting, or reinterpreting great-power competition.o Competing ideological values and normative frameworks in shaping foreign policy narratives.o Narrative contestation surrounding major geopolitical crises and issues of global concern.o State-sponsored information campaigns influencing perceptions of U.S.–China relations and global order.o Transnational communication, adaptation, and localization of U.S. and Chinese narratives in the Global South.o The interaction among elite discourse, media, and digital publics in constructing geopolitical narratives.o Methodological innovations for studying diplomatic narratives, including computational, discourse, network, and mixed-methods approaches.o Historical and longitudinal analyses of changes in foreign policy narratives across administrations and leaderships.o Theoretical and practical implications of narrative competition for global governance and public understanding of international order. Topic editors: Keyu Glanz, Lucie Lu Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/83692/contesting-world-orders-us-china-narrative-competition-and-the-role-of-middle-powers