Essay from the year 2007 in the subject Politics - Topic: Globalization, Political Economics, The Australian National University (Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies), language: English, abstract: The following three essays are working papers on different issues, like "The Rise of China", protectionism and the understanding of the US being an empire or a hegemon. These have been written during a research visit at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. While the first essay on "The Rise of China" is concerned with the relation of Australia and the US, which seems to be influenced by the rising star of China, the second essay also talks about a very topical issue of protectionism in a globalized or globalizing world. The ongoing crisis of finance since the end of 2008 and the following recession is challenging free trade and liberalism today. In regard to "The Rise of China" the issue became more and more important since Chinese companies seem to buy out the Australian economy in 2009. Finally, the last essay is focused on the question of how the United States should be understood in regard to its foreign policy. Referring to the concepts of empire and hegemony, the author introduces the two cases of ancient Athens and Sparta. As Athens is seen as the ideal empire and Sparta is supposed to be the ideal hegemon, the essay compares both Greek city-states and their policies with the US foreign policies under Bush II and the neocons.