Literature About China 's Rise Of East Asia Varies Across International Relations Essay

‘The Gathering Storm’ written by John Mearsheimer provides a critical analysis on the state of China’s rising power compared to the U.S in the current context. The United States has been the most powerful state for a long time in history and has led the way in terms of military forces since World War two, according to the Australian Government. But the next sentence in Australia’s White Paper details changes in the distribution of power. This arises the argument of the rise of China playing havoc on the balance of global power. The article also explores whether the rise of China will be peacefully, the drive for regional hegemony and also the concurrent rise of Australia and China.

Realism is one of the most dominant international relations theories in the academic world. But within Realism, Realists are split on a number of issues. A perfect example of which being the rise of China. Over the past 30 years China has increased not only in population and power, but has also achieved one of the strongest economies in the world. The rise of China is seen as problematic by many realists. Since the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union, the US has enjoyed a position of hegemony in the unipolar power structure of the world. Many fear that the rise of China could upset the current balance of power. One such individual is a prominent realist scholar, John Mearsheimer. He believes that war with China is inevitable and “calls for the US to do whatever it can to slow China’s rise.” Another political theorist Jonathan Kirshner wrote this paper to counter many of Mearsheimer’s claims, stating that Mearsheimer’s offensive realism “is wrong, and dangerous”. Kirshner suggests that instead of using offensive realism we should look instead to the theories roots in classical realism to analyse the rise of China.

The rise of China has been one of the most fiercely debated topics in modern history among political scientists about whether the rise is good or bad for western civilization, and more specifically the hegemony of the United States. With many people and political scientists split on the issue. The reason for this split on opinion can be blamed on the how Political Scientists view the world and whether they are inherent: a Liberal (in International Relations Terms), a Realist, or a Constructivist.

The rise in China from a poor, stagnant country to a major economic power within a time span of twenty-eight years is often described by analysts as one of the greatest success stories in these present times. With China receiving an increase in the amount of trade business from many countries around the world, they may soon be a major competitor to surpass the U.S. China became the second largest economy, last year, overtaking Japan which had held that position since 1968 (Gallup). China could become the world’s largest economy in decades.

It is no longer appropriate to say, “China is quickly emerging as a global superpower.” The fact is China is just that. Realizing this the United States of America has attempted to once again turn its focus eastward. Continuing problems at home and in the Middle East however have made doing so difficult. Additionally more and more frequently attempts at influencing the ongoing narrative in the Asia- Pacific region have been rebuffed. Even allies have found strength in the emergence of a system that fails to conform to previously prescribed methods and ideals. This leads to a fundamental question America must answer quickly. Has the growing hypocrisy of idealistic political rhetoric versus actual foreign policy finally undermined American credibility with developing nations, or for the purposes of this paper more specifically China? The answer is yes.

Morrison, Bruce Vaughn, and William Kennedy; the evolution and rise of China’s strength through soft power were discussed. Beginning on Yiwei Wang’s piece, its focus point aims at the redefining of China from a hard power into a soft power by rebranding its international image to suit its goals. (Wang, 2005) In the piece, China’s difficulties in achieving a full rebranding began the piece, yet its transformation has seen its return in success by going “from soft power to soft rise” with its ambitions in achieving this power. Going into Thomas Lum, Wayne M. Morrison, and Bruce Vaughn’s piece, the means China had used to actually reach this point of soft power were discussed especially focussing on its focus in Southeast Asia by conducting non-military inducements including culture, diplomacy, foreign aid, trade, and investment throughout the region. Through these non-military acts throughout the region, negative imagery previously associated with China during the Mao era had begun to be forgotten, in order to think of China as their hero of sorts. (Lum, Morrison, Vaughn, 2008) Lastly, through Kennedy’s piece these goals are reiterated in both the means China has been using to boost its soft power as well as the benefits of economic and diplomatic gains through the success of their gains in soft power, as well as reiterating Nye’s point in the strengths achievable through successful soft power usage. (Kennedy, 2016)

Henry Kissinger is one of the most extraordinary figures in the United States foreign policy. Under the Nixon’s administration, Kissinger served as a National Security Advisor and then as a Secretary of State. He was one of the few American diplomats who has known China intimately. Based off of his personal recollections of the Chinese leaders during his visit as well as other historical records, Kissinger was able to investigate how the Chinese leaders approach diplomacy, strategy, and negotiations with other countries during the 20th century. On China, written by Kissinger provides analysis and historical context of Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Deng Xiaoping. With those analyses, Kissing was able to reflect on the consequences for the global balance of power in the 21st century. This paper will review Kissinger’s text as well as his main arguments, and will evaluate the quality of Kissinger’s arguments and focus on any areas of weakness within the book.

Thomas Sanderson, Transnational Threats in the Arc of Instability. Expert in Geopolitics and International Security.

Henry Kissinger is one of the most extraodinary figures in the United States foreign policy. Under the Nixon’s administration, Kissinger served as a National Security Advisor and then as a Secretary of State. He was one of the few American diplomats who has known China intimately. Based off of his personal recollections of the Chinese leaders during his visit as well as other historical records, Kissinger was able to investigate how the Chinese leaders approach diplomacy, strategy, and negotiations with other countries during the 20th century. On China, written by Kissinger provides analysis and historical context of Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Deng Xiaoping. With those analyses, Kissing was able to reflect on the consequences for the global balance of power in the 21st century. This paper will review Kissinger’s text as well as his main arguments, and will evaluate the quality of Kissinger’s arguments and focus on any areas of weakness within the book.

To be able to successfully evaluate the role of the rise of China in the security of states, the international order must be looked at first. Due to the anarchical nature of the international order, survival is the supposedly the most important interest of any independent state, as it forces states to be fearful of each other as each state is concerned about their security and their abilities to compete with each other for power according to realism. It is this system that causes the

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has become more integrated and willing to cooperate within the global political and economic systems than ever in its history. However, there is growing apprehension in the Asia-Pacific region and the U.S. in regards to the consequences of rising in economic and military power in China. Descriptions about Chinese diplomacy in the policy and scholarly are less positive lately concerning China’s obedience to regional and international rules. There was little debate in the U.S. and elsewhere in regards to whether China was or was not part “the international community.” Scholars and experts in the early 1990s have contended

Realism assumes that under a balance of power, the overriding aim of all states is to maximize power and become the only hegemony in the system. States only help themselves in the anarchic international system. Therefore, China’s rise is regarded as a disconcerting threat to the U.S.’s primacy of power in the present international stage. The power shift in East Asia is creating security dilemmas; the U.S. thus demands more security to its Asian allies including Philippines, Japan and South Korea. The rapidly-rising Chinese power would inevitably challenge the current international balance of power and appear aggressively in the eyes of weaker power such as the Philippines. Therefore it seeks help to its ally, the U.S., to counterbalance the power of China. China intends to gain more resources and to transform current international order to its favor according to its national interests. The 2010 Chinese White Paper on National Defence states that: “Contradictions continue to surface between developed and developing countries and between traditional

Theories are used in many fields of science, but in no field are they more prevalent than Political Science. These theories are often used and researched upon to try and attempt to discern how states interact with one another. Offensive Realism, a new branch of realist political theory, is brought forth in John Mearsheimer’s book, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. This theory focuses on the key aspects of realism, while adding a twist as to why war is an option. In his book, Mearsheimer explains the history of great powers, and predicts that China, the world’s current rising great power, will not gain hegemony in Asia peacefully. With the rise of China, he asserts the US will form coalitions with multiple states throughout Asia, to contain their growing power. This rise in power, and subsequent reactions by the US, are based on his theory Offensive Realism, which is used to predict China’s future actions. The rise of powers, and the reactions of other powers, is historically analyzed, beginning in the late 18th century, all the way to modern times. These analyzes each attempt to support his overall claim that China will rise through non-peaceful means, and shows significant support with historical examples. While the theory often meets an exception when the usual non-European power, Japan, is mentioned, Mearsheimer’s theory introduces a solid new aspect to the realm of Political Science, and presents enough evidence and information to be considered integral to

Snyder claims that realism failed to predict the Cold War. Given this, Mearsheimer states “China cannot rise peacefully.” Since realists describe the world as a self-help system, according to Posen, every country “must look to its own interests relative to those of others” and because “security is the preeminent issue in an anarchic world, the distribution of capabilities to attack and defend should matter.” Thus, because China’s strive for regional hegemony inevitably threatens the power dynamic of the global system, the U.S. will, according to Mearsheimer, take an offensive realist approach that will eventually lead to war. In addition, as seen in post-Cold War, economic stability greatly determines the distribution of power. Friedberg notes, that the projected “speed and magnitude of China’s growth in recent decades appears to be unprecedented” and as early as 2015, “China’s economy could overtake that of the United States.” Although the U.S. faces an unprecedented challenge to economic power, according to Ikenberry, China has signaled cooperation by “redoubling its participation in existing institutions, such as the ASEAN Regional Forum and the East Asia Summit or working with the other great powers in the region to build new ones.” Nevertheless, following the actions of the U.S. post WWII, China strategically makes “itself more predictable and approachable” to reduce “the incentives for other

There is a growing need for a “powerful outsider” (Economist, b, 2009) to become present in Eastern Europe and this place may soon be filled by China. China has motive to create an active role for itself within Eastern Europe; not only its involvement within the trade industry, but also its geopolitical role (Economist, b, 2009). Having greater involvement in Europe would be beneficial, and achieving amicable relations with Europe