Nationalists or radical nationalists tend to interpret what the United States or West is doing as a conspiracy to maintain their supremacy over developing countries.

The financial crisis was described as a conspiracy in a series of books titled War of Currency. The latest book, Carbon Empire (tanke diguo) by Bai Haijun, claims that global warming is a lie and the low-carbon economy a conspiracy by the US to maintain its position as the world's leading power.

A survey released by researchers at George Mason University found that more than one-quarter of TV weathercasters agreed with the statement "Global warming is a scam" and nearly two-thirds believed that, if global warming is occurring, it is caused "mostly by natural changes".