"Tangled Titans offers the most current and comprehensive assessment available of United States-China relations. In this definitive book, leading experts consider the past, present, and future of this complex relationship through an in-depth exploration of its historical, domestic, bilateral, regional, and global contexts. Never in modern history have two great powers been so deeply intertwined, yet so suspicious and potentially antagonistic. Readers will find Tangled Titans essential reading to understand the current dynamics and future direction of relations between the world's two most important powers."--Page 4 of cover.

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.

In light of the intertwining logics of military competition and economic interdependence at play in US-China relations, Trading with the Enemy examines how the United States has balanced its potentially conflicting national security and economic interests in its relationship with the People's Republic of China (PRC). To do so, Hugo Meijer investigates a strategically sensitive yet under-explored facet of US-China relations: the making of American export control policy on military-related technology transfers to China since 1979. Trading with the Enemy is the first monograph on this dimension of the US-China relationship in the post-Cold War. Based on 199 interviews, declassified documents, and diplomatic cables leaked by Wikileaks, two major findings emerge from this book. First, the US is no longer able to apply a strategy of military/technology containment of China in the same way it did with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. This is because of the erosion of its capacity to restrict the transfer of military-related technology to the PRC. Secondly, a growing number of actors in Washington have reassessed the nexus between national security and economic interests at stake in the US-China relationship - by moving beyond the Cold War trade-off between the two - in order to maintain American military preeminence vis-à-vis its strategic rivals. By focusing on how states manage the heterogeneous and potentially competing security and economic interests at stake in a bilateral relationship, this book seeks to shed light on the evolving character of interstate rivalry in a globalized economy, where rivals in the military realm are also economically interdependent.

Most global citizens are well aware of the explosive growth of the Chinese economy. Indeed, China has famously become the "workshop of the world." Yet, while China watchers have shed much light on the country's internal dynamics--China's politics, its vast social changes, and its economic development--few have focused on how this increasingly powerful nation has become more active and assertive throughout the world. In China Goes Global, eminent China scholar David Shambaugh delivers the book that many have been waiting for--a sweeping account of China's growing prominence on the international stage. Thirty years ago, China's role in global affairs beyond its immediate East Asian periphery was decidedly minor and it had little geostrategic power. Today however, China's expanding economic power has allowed it to extend its reach virtually everywhere--from mineral mines in Africa, to currency markets in the West, to oilfields in the Middle East, to agribusiness in Latin America, to the factories of East Asia. Shambaugh offers an enlightening look into the manifestations of China's global presence: its extensive commercial footprint, its growing military power, its increasing cultural influence or "soft power," its diplomatic activity, and its new prominence in global governance institutions. But Shambaugh is no alarmist. In this balanced and well-researched volume, he argues that China's global presence is more broad than deep and that China still lacks the influence befitting a major world power--what he terms a "partial power." He draws on his decades of China-watching and his deep knowledge of the subject, and exploits a wide variety of previously untapped sources, to shed valuable light on China's current and future roles in world affairs.

A look at how the desire to improve international status affects Russia's and China's foreign policies Deborah Welch Larson and Alexei Shevchenko argue that the desire for world status plays a key role in shaping the foreign policies of China and Russia. Applying social identity theory—the idea that individuals derive part of their identity from larger communities—to nations, they contend that China and Russia have used various modes of emulation, competition, and creativity to gain recognition from other countries and thus validate their respective identities. To make this argument, they analyze numerous cases, including Catherine the Great’s attempts to westernize Russia, China’s identity crises in the nineteenth century, and both countries’ responses to the end of the Cold War. The authors employ a multifaceted method of measuring status, factoring in influence and inclusion in multinational organizations, military clout, and cultural sway, among other considerations. Combined with historical precedent, this socio-psychological approach helps explain current trends in Russian and Chinese foreign policy.

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.

"Cold Rivals brings together a distinguished group of scholars from the United States and China to examine the new era of strategic competition in US-China relations. The two countries are now competitors locked in a long-term rivalry, but how volatile the rivalry will become is still to be determined. The book explores not only the historical roots and contemporary foreign policy aspects of this era, but the volume also looks at the economic, military, and technological arenas of US-China strategic competition. In doing so, this volume highlights important differences in US and Chinese perspectives. A final section of the volume explores future scenarios for the relationship from different perspectives but with all of them coming to the sobering conclusion about a future marked by expanding differences, growing tensions, economic disengagement, and pressures for a global competition. This policy-relevant book provides a comprehensive overview of US-China strategic competition and reinvigorates thinking about how to avoid reaching a crisis point"--