Creative Involvement: A New Direction in China?s Diplomacy

With the enhancement of national strength, China’s diplomacy has leapt onto a new high ground, basically obtaining the status of a world power. Meanwhile, it has also received a large amount of right and wrong mixed criticism and suggestions from different sides, in the face of a sudden increase in opportunities, pressures, and conflicts. The "creative involvement" in this book is exactly proposed for the future of China’s diplomacy. In this book, the author first defines the concept "creative involvement". Different from diplomatic theories in the traditional senses, creative involvement is a kind of diplomatic thinking which encourages more active participation in international affairs and advocates creative solutions. Then the author makes case studies on some events and people which have been of typical significance in China’s diplomatic practices since the end of the Cold War, expounding their innovations and limitations. In the third part, the author turns to various supportive propositions, ideas, and theories concerning creative involvement and explains how they are applied to China’s future diplomatic practice. Lastly, the author tries to set a number of scenarios, discussing the possible entry points for creative involvement.

Combining innovative theoretical idea with practical investigation, this book will not only contribute to contemporary China diplomatic studies but also appeal to scholars and students of international relations studies.

Yizhou Wang is a professor and the vice-dean of School of International Studies, Peking University. His research interests include International Politics and International Relations.