52CHINA TODAY
By  LIU CHEN
A
T their virtual meeting on Feb-ruary 19,  leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) pledged in a joint statement to make 2021 a
turning point for multilateralism. Amid global volatility, multilateral coopera-tion is facing a range of new challenges that need the guidance of innovation and inspiration of a practical trailblaz-ing approach. Nonetheless, despite such uncertainty across the world, the pledge from the G7 sent a positive sign. The stance of supporting and encouraging international cooperation taken by the G7 since its founding in 1975 is reminis-cent of the study of the world renowned economist Richard N. Cooper, widely recognized as the founder of study on international cooperation in econom-ics. Cooper helped lay the theoretical ground for the founding of G7. The Maurits C. Boas Professor of Interna-tional Economics at Harvard University died of cancer on December 23, 2020, at the age of 86.
A Trailblazer in Economics
In his book The Economics of Inter-dependence: Economic Policy in the Atlantic Community  published in 1968, Cooper proposed the cooperative equi-librium theory, a great departure from established ideas represented by John Nash’s non-cooperative equilibrium theory. Cooper contended that coun-tries could achieve better outcomes
if they committed to joint settings of macroeconomic policies by working in a collaborative and coordinated way, particularly in the field of international trade, which would promote prosperity. After fierce academic debates and poli-cy contention, Cooper’s  theory on inter-national cooperation has been widely accepted. It thus laid the theoretical ground for the founding and develop-ment of the G7, G8, and G20.与神对话下载
Cooper once worked as an impor-tant policy advisor to four U.S. presi-dents. His theory about international cooperation exerted a positive influ-ence on the development of U.S.-China relations. While serving as Under-Secretary of State for Economic Affairs under President Jimmy Carter, Cooper contributed to and witnessed the for-
Richard N. Cooper:
For an Interdependent World
mal establishment of China-U.S. diplo-matic ties in 1979.
In his studies on international cooperation, Copper approached eco-nomics from the perspective of history and sociology. It is an example of true interdisciplinary integration rather than a patchwork or integration for integra-tion’s  sake. In his eyes, the real world is complicated, with each link intercon-nected. He attached value to, and took an objective view on theories and prac-tices of emerging economies like China. A review of his studies on China leads to the discovery of three features — his-torical perspective, emphasis on investi-gation, and being future-oriented.
History, Reality, and Future
Cooper believed that nobody can understand the present without a keen understanding of the past. In his class on the transformation of China’s eco-nomic policy since the commencement of the country’s reform and opening-up, he emphasized that students should learn about Chinese history and culture to get a whole picture of the country, rather than focusing only on its recent development. Cooper spoke highly of the Chinese approach of “seeking truth from facts.” He didn’t endorse the excessive reliance on theo-ries, models, and figures. In one of his reports, Cooper quoted a well-known saying from the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “All theory, dear friend, is grey, but the golden tree of
soCieTy/liFe / new visTas
Richard N. Cooper, the
Harvard University professor, has been widely recognized as the founder of studies on international cooperation.
actual life springs ever green,” to en-courage his Chinese students to associ-ate theory with practice.
Cooper spent a lot of time in different countries for visits or cooperative stud-ies. Later in his career, he shifted his fo-cus to the developing world represented by China. He thought universities in the West had not paid adequate attention to developing countries, believing that a country can only be truly understood by visiting it. Cooper almost visited China every year and had many wonderful memories of the country. He applauded China’s efforts to deepen its relations with other countries.
Emphasizing the importance of in-vestigation was the hallmark of Cooper’s studies on China. In various reports about China, apart from just using data, Cooper always tended to use vivid cases to display China’s development. For example, in his visit to China in the 1970s, Chinese people still showed some unpleasant habits like littering and smoking in public. More than four decades later, Chinese people now value learning, healthy lifestyles, and social service. In some cities like Beijing and Shanghai, waste sorting has become an integral part of people’s daily life.  Be-cause of his awar
eness about Chinese people’s dreams and pursuits, Cooper could always resonate with his Chinese audience.
International Cooperation Theory Embraced
Spanning over 60 years, Cooper’s academic career witnessed many great international changes, most notably the Cold War, rising globalization, and more recently the anti-globalization push dur-ing the Trump presidency. Despite social changes, he stuck to the perspective of cooperation and coordination. His international cooperation theory is still widely embraced in economics circles.
Jeffrey Frankel, a professor of capital
formation and growth at the Harvard
Kennedy School, once commented that
解小东
Cooper’s theory about international co-
operation is an original groundbreaking
theory. With the rise of China’s econo-
my, the feasibility of win-win coopera-
tion has become an increasingly popu-
lar topic. As isolationism and racism
have reared their ugly heads in recent
years, the international community is
now rife with misunderstanding and
prejudice. Under these circumstances,
微山湖简谱
it’s necessary for people to review Coo-
per’s forward-looking studies. Cooper’s
future-oriented perspective is interna-
tional instead of parochial. In his thesis
Economic Interdependence and War,
Cooper summarized three globalization
trends in history: the first globalization
trend in the 16th century, the second
from 1870 to 1913 prior to World War
I, and the third starting in the 1970s,
often referred to as “the great period of
globalization.”
Regarding what makes the third
globalization a “great period,” former
president of the London School of Eco-
nomics and Political Science, Anthony
Giddens, in the third edition of his book
Sociology
, echoing Cooper’s viewpoint,
stated, “Globalization opens our eyes
to the increasing ties between the local
and global, and means [in the context of
globalization], our actions and behavior
will have consequences for others, and
the world’s problems will have conse-
quences for us.”
In short, like other economists, Coo-
per was preoccupied with hot-button
issues in his studies. He was, however,
particularly interested in establishing a
collaborative and coordinated system
or mechanism — which could hold the
天籁之音的主题曲
world together. His main ideas are up-
lifting, inspiring, and empowering. His
不管有多少个明天article “A Glimpse of 2020” confidently
spoke of the four factors significant
to the future. Increasing international
mobility is stressed as always. Auguste
Comte, a founder of sociology, gave the
sacred formula of positivism as, “Love as
a principle and order as the basis; prog-
ress as the goal.” In this sense, the most
valuable asset of Cooper’s economic
studies is humanity.  C
LIU CHEN is a professor of public administration
and cultural studies with Beijing Foreign Studies
University. Liu is also a Harvard Kennedy School
Mason Fellow, and postdoctoral fellow, Graduate
我们的歌声里歌词School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard, supervised
by Richard N. Cooper.
Professor Cooper takes a group photo with students from Beijing Foreign Studies University after giving a lecture there in 2016.
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May 2021