Foreign Relations of the PRC: The Legacies and Constraints of China’s International Politics since 1949 - Softcover

Sutter, Robert G.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1442220163 ISBN 13: 9781442220164

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2013

Synopsis

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 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 it actually will become internationally.

About this title

About the Author

Robert G. Sutter was an analyst of Asian and Pacific affairs and American foreign policy for the U.S. government for thirty years. He is now Professor of Practice of International Affairs, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University.

Edition details

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1442220163
• ISBN 13: 9781442220164
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368