This lucid assessment of the historical and contemporary determinants of Sino-American relations, now comprehensively updated, explains the conflicted engagement between the two governments. Offering a welcome richness of discussion and analysis, distinguished analyst Robert G. Sutter explores the twists and turns of the relationship over the past two hundred years. The mixed historical record convincingly shows that strong differences and mutual suspicions persist, only partly overridden by a mutual pragmatism that shifts with circumstances. As the only book on the subject that combines a unified assessment of the historical evolution, contemporary status, and likely prospects of U.S.-Chinese relations, this balanced and pragmatic study will be an essential resource for all concerned with the globe's most crucial bilateral partnership.
Much has changed in US-China relations since the first edition of this book over a decade ago alerted readers to balance outwardly positive discourse in multiple bilateral dialogues with an understanding of important differences. This fourth edition provides a comprehensive assessment of historical and contemporary determinants of Sino-American relations up to the present, giving special focus to the recent dramatic hardening amid acute competition between the world’s leading powers. The catalyst and main driver of this negative change remains a unique bipartisan Congressional-Administration consensus that sees multiple challenges from China now posing an overall existential threat. Urgency to counter these challenges dominates US policy making toward China. The consensus came about despite acute partisanship and erratic presidential leadership during the Trump administration and it continues strong with the more consistent foreign policy of President Biden. China remains uncompromising, forecasting continued trouble ahead. Leading expert Robert G. Sutter has written the only book on the subject that combines assessment of the historical evolution, in-depth analysis of the many issues determining recent developments, and likely prospects for US-China relations going forward. His balanced study will be an essential resource for all concerned with the globe's most crucial bilateral partnership.
This comprehensive introduction to Chinese foreign relations examines the opportunities and limits China faces as it seeks growing international influence. Tracing the record of twists and turns in Chinese foreign relations since the end of the Cold War, Robert G. Sutter provides a nuanced analysis that shows that despite its growing power, Beijing is hampered by both domestic and international constraints. Newly revised, this edition features more extensive treatment of China s role in the international economy and greater discussion of its relations with the developing world. Overall, Sutter's balanced and thorough assessment shows China's leaders exerting more influence in world affairs but remaining far from dominant. Facing numerous contradictions and trade-offs, they move cautiously as they deal with a complex global environment.
With new assertiveness and prominence, China under President Xi Jinping is rightly considered an emerging and aggressive superpower backed by growing economic and impressive military strength. In this meticulous and balanced assessment, Robert G. Sutter traces China’s actions under Xi Jinping, including the many challenges they post to the international status quo. He provides a comprehensive analysis of newly prominent Chinese unconventional levers of power and influence in foreign affairs that were previously disguised, hidden, denied or otherwise neglected or unappreciated by specialists. Sutter considers the domestic issues that preoccupy Beijing and the global factors economic and political factors that complicate and constrain as well as enhance China’s advance to international prominence.
Now in a fully revised and updated edition, this cogent book provides an overview of the historical context and enduring patterns of U.S. relations with Asia. Noted scholar Robert G. Sutter offers a balanced analysis of post–Cold War dynamics in Asia, which involve interrelated questions of security, economics, national identity, and regional institution building. He demonstrates how these critical concerns manifest a complex mix of realist, liberal, and constructivist tendencies that define the regional order. He describes how the United States has responded to Asia’s growing strength and importance while at the same time trying to maintain its leading position as an Asian power despite China’s rising influence. Considering the most important transition in American policy toward Asia since the end of the Cold War, Sutter assesses the growing U.S.-China rivalry that now dominates both regional dynamics in the Asia-Pacific and U.S. policy in the region.
Now in a fully updated edition, this cogent but comprehensive book examines the international relations of the People’s Republic of China since its founding in 1949. Noted scholar Robert G. Sutter provides a balanced assessment of the country’s recent successes and advances as well as the important legacies and constraints that hamper it, especially in nearby Asia—long the focus of China’s foreign policy attention. Sutter demonstrates how Beijing has carefully created an image of a China that follows consistent policies based on morally correct principles, but its record shows repeated episodes of sometime surprising change and frequent use of violence, intimidation, and coercion. China’s leaders, he argues, still fail to manage the desire for productive foreign relations with their aspirations to build Chinese security and sovereignty interests. Image-building efforts condition Chinese public and elite opinion to be extraordinarily sensitive, self-righteous, and often alarmist in dealing with the many disputes China has with its Asian neighbors and the United States. Advances that the PRC has made in other parts of the world focus mainly on commercial interests, limiting its actual impact on world affairs. Sutter shows readers how to use China’s rise in nearby Asia as a reliable barometer of how important and effective the country will actually become internationally.
This book assesses the key causes and trends in recent security, economic, and political dynamics in East Asia to point to the opportunities and challenges they pose for U.S. policy today.
How the West responds to China's emergence as a great power will go far toward determining the course of world politics in the years ahead. Yet, as Robert Sutter shows in this timely book, U.S. foreign policy in this vital arena remains remarkably unfocused and uninformed. Preoccupied with domestic imperatives and a persistent and intractable debate over China, the U.S. government, media, and public have all but ignored the interests and motivations of China's leaders. The author argues that the course of U.S.-China relations will be determined by Beijing as well as Washington, and a balanced understanding of Chinese leaders' priorities will lead to more informed and effective U.S. policy. Toward that goal, this pragmatic study examines current Chinese concerns and behavior in areas of crucial importance to the United States. Assessing the many economic, social, and political problems that continue to preoccupy China's leaders, Sutter concludes that Chinese internal difficulties and aspirations are so wide-ranging and protracted that China's leaders will remain focused on promoting economic development and reforms and maintaining social-political stability well into the twenty-first century. This analysis sets the stage for more extensive treatment of China's role in world affairs--areas where Chinese and U.S. interests interact most directly. The author contends that a balanced view of common ground and differences will temper the excessive swings seen in recent U.S. China policy and lay the groundwork for a more realistic relationship as we move into a new century.
Congress and China Policy: Past Episodic, Recent Enduring Influence supports findings that bipartisan majorities in Congress have been instrumental in driving the fundamental shift in American policy toward China carried out during the past six years. Filling major gaps in the inadequate treatment of Congress in assessments of US policy toward China, this book compares recent Congressional influence with the episodes of Congressional activism in China policy over the past 200 years, showing Congress recently has been more important than ever. The findings also show that partisan politics, Congressional-executive competition for policy control, swings in public and media opinion, and influences by special interests—longstanding drivers of past Congressional involvement in China policy—have been of secondary or lesser importance as the Congressional members have grappled with the acute dangers posed by Chinese economic, security and governance challenges. Steady and determined efforts by this cohort of bipartisan Congressional majorities to defend America from Chinese challenges have proven more resolute than the erratic practices of President Trump and previously dismissive Joseph Biden who came late to a tougher policy. This volume forecasts that US policy will remain heavily influenced by these members as they serve out their terms in the years ahead.
The foreign relations of the People's Republic of China have gone through dramatic change since 1949. The strong-man rule of Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party leader's dominance of Chinese foreign policy decision making for three decades witnessed dramatic swings in alignment, repeated and strong commitments to revolutionary goals and ideals, and spasms of destructive mass campaigns within China that spilled over to impact Chinese foreign relations. Contrastingly, as China emerged in the 21st century as an economic and military power second only to the United States, the new generations of Chinese leaders followed collaborative and consultative patterns of foreign policy making at home and abroad, seeking to sustain into the coming decades the generally favorable recent international circumstances seen as providing a prolonged period of "strategic opportunity" for China's economic and broader national development. Historical Dictionary of Chinese Foreign Policy covers the more than 60 years of the foreign policy of the People's Republic of China. It provides reliable and comprehensive information and assessments about the major actors, developments, and other aspects of the foreign policy and foreign relations of the People's Republic of China. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, and over 500 cross-referenced dictionary entries dealing with important individuals, events, and other aspects of the foreign policy of this important country. It is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Chinese foreign policy.
The relationship between the United States of America and the People's Republic of China is traced in this dictionary containing hundreds of cross-referenced entries on the presidents and prime ministers, the secretaries of state and foreign ministers, other key players, and the more significant institutions and events. Everything from the Boxer Uprising in the late 19th Century to Nixon's historic visit to China in 1972, from the crisis over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan in 1982 to the U.S. bombing of the Chinese Embassy at Belgrade in 1999 is covered in this highly accessible scholarly work. The book's introduction and chronology delineate the many differences in political, military, and ideological issues between the two countries. Two appendixes list all the United States Presidents and Secretaries of State, as well as all the Republic of China Presidents and Prime Ministers and the People's Republic of China Presidents and Prime Ministers, respectively. Supplementing the material is an extremely detailed bibliography of related materials.
China's rapid military and economic growth has fuelled a steady stream of analysis and debate about the PRC's motivations and objectives regarding the United States. Yet until now, there has not been a sustained, single-authored assessment in English of China's expanding influence in Asia in the post-Cold War period. Respected analyst Robert G. Sutter draws on his extensive experience in the region to explore the current debate on China's rise and its meaning for U.S. interests by examining in detail China's current and historical relations with the key countries of Asia. He finds a range of motivations underlying China's recent initiatives. Some incline Chinese policy to be cooperative with the United States, others to be competitive and confrontational. Sutter's nuanced study shows that U.S. power and influence continue to dominate Asia and play a critical role in determining China's cooperative or confrontational approach. He argues that the Bush administration's policies of firmness and cooperation have encouraged China to stay on a generally constructive track in the region.
The American reconciliation with the People's Republic of China (PRC) begun by President Richard Nixon and developed by succeeding U.S. presidents has enjoyed wide support in the United States as one of the most important breakthroughs in U.S. foreign policy since the cold war. In broad terms, each American administration, from Richard Nixon's to Ronald Reagan's, has sought to use better relations with China as a means to position the United States favorably in the U.S.- Soviet-PRC triangular relationship; to stabilize Asian affairs, secure a balance of forces in the region favorable to the United States and its allies and friends, and foster a peaceful and prosperous future for Taiwan; to build beneficial economic, cultural, and other bilateral ties; and to work more closely with the PRC on issues of global importance such as world food supply, population control, and arms limitations. China has supported the opening of relations with the United States as a means to strengthen China's national security against the Soviet threat and to oppose the expansion of Soviet power in Asian and world affairs; to obtain U.S. and other Western economic commodities, investment, and technology; and to benefit from cultural, educational, and tourist exchanges.
Increased fluidity and pluralism in U.S. policy toward China in the post-Cold War period have led to growing non-governmental influence as both the administration and Congress have become the target of intense lobbying by organized groups concerned with human rights, trade opportunities, relations with Taiwan, and other hotly debated issues. This balanced study examines the central role of these organizations and shows how the recent movement toward a more consistent and coherent administration policy on China remains tentative and under attack, especially in the wake of Asian campaign contributions. Although recognizing that U.S. policymakers must consider a wider range of interests in the current political climate, Sutter argues that following the prevailing consensus among organized interests may lead to bad policy. Instead, he contends that U.S. foreign policy must strike a balance between satisfying domestic concerns while buttressing interests abroad.
As the cold war ends, the United States is being forced to reassess the dominant role it has played in East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific during the decades that followed World War II. Bringing readers up to date on policy trends in the area, the author provides a general overview as well as detailed analyses of key issues in individual nations and regions. The author concludes by placing these regional developments in the context of the ongoing debate in the United States over an appropriate foreign policy in the post-cold war world.
Traditionally, Taiwan has been viewed as the passive pawn of more aggressive powers, yet now it has begun to assert its voice in world affairs—especially through economic influence. This volume brings together leading scholars to examine the origins and implications of Taiwan's global role and the ramifications of its growing strength for such crucial policy issues as China's reunification and U.S. policy in East Asia.
This book introduces the current U.S. policy issues and interests concerning the crisis in Cambodia. It provides an overview of the impasse in the Cambodian conflict that prevailed throughout much of the 1980s and looks at U.S. policy concerns in both Cambodia and Vietnam.
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