How can a developing, democratic and predominantly Muslim country like Indonesia manage its foreign relations, while facing a myriad of security concerns and dilemmas in the increasingly complex post-Cold War international politics, without compromising its national interests and sacrificing its independence? Approaching this problem from the vantage point of the Indonesian foreign policy elite, this book explores the elite's perceptions about other states and the manner in which these shape the decision-making process and determine policy outcomes. The combined qualitative and quantitative research strategy draws on a unique series of in-depth interviews with 45 members of the Indonesian foreign policy elite that included the country's (present and/or former) presidents, cabinet ministers, high-ranking military officers, and senior diplomats. Among all state actors, Indonesian relations with the United States and China are the highest concern of the elite. The leaders believe that, in the future, Indonesia will increasingly have to manoeuvre between the two rival powers. While the United States during George W. Bush's presidency was seen as the main security threat to Indonesia, China is considered the main malign factor in the long run with power capabilities that need to be constrained and counter-balanced.

This book examines the power transition between the US and China, and the implications for Europe and Asia in a new era of uncertainty. The volume addresses the impact that the rise of China has on the United States, Europe, transatlantic relations, and East Asia. China is seeking to use its enhanced power position to promote new ambitions; the United States is adjusting to a new superpower rivalry; and the power shift from the West to the East is resulting in a more peripheral role for Europe in world affairs. Featuring essays by prominent Chinese and international experts, the book examines the US–China rivalry, the changing international system, grand strategies and geopolitics, foreign policy, geo-economics and institutions, and military and technological developments. The chapters examine how strategic, security, and military considerations in this triangular relationship are gradually undermining trade and economics, reversing the era of globalization, and contributing to the breakdown of the US-led liberal order and institutions that will be difficult to rebuild. The volume also examines whether the adversarial antagonism in US–China relations, the tension in transatlantic ties, and the increasing rivalry in Europe–China relations are primarily resulting from leaders’ ambitions or structural power shifts. This book will be of much interest to students of Asian security, US foreign policy, European politics, and International Relations in general.

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.

This updated and expanded 3rd edition of Chinese Foreign Policy seeks to explain the processes, actors and current history behind China’s international relations, as well as offering an in-depth look at the key areas of China’s modern global relations. Among the key issues are: The expansion of Chinese foreign policy from regional to international interests China’s growing economic power in an era of global financial uncertainty Modern security challenges, including maritime security, counter-terrorism and protection of overseas economic interests The shifting power relationship with the United States, as well as with the European Union, Russia and Japan. China’s engagement with a growing number of international and regional institutions and legal affairs The developing great power diplomacy of China New chapters address not only China’s evolving foreign policy interests but also recent changes in the international system and the effects of China’s domestic reforms. In response to current events, sections addressing Chinese trade, bilateral relations, and China’s developing strategic interest in Russia and the Polar Regions have be extensively revised and updated. This book will be essential reading for students of Chinese foreign policy and Asian international relations, and highly recommended for students of diplomacy, international security and IR in general.

This volume examines the Chinese foreign policy framework today and traces its evolution since the post-Mao era. Through the consideration of China's relations with the major powers and its management of various challenges ranging from territorial disputes to energy security, it investigates China's pursuit of major power status and influence in peaceful international scenarios. The author critically analyzes China's foreign policy from Chinese leaders' evolving worldview of the changing international environment. As China emerges as a major power and the second largest economy in the world, anyone interested in international politics and scenarios as well as China's foreign policy needs a basic, insightful reference book like this.

For more than a century, no US adversary or coalition of adversaries - not Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, or the Soviet Union - has ever reached sixty percent of US GDP. China is the sole exception, and it is fast emerging into a global superpower that could rival, if not eclipse, the United States. What does China want, does it have a grand strategy to achieve it, and what should the United States do about it? In The Long Game, Rush Doshi draws from a rich base of Chinese primary sources, including decades worth of party documents, leaked materials, memoirs by party leaders, and a careful analysis of China's conduct to provide a history of China's grand strategy since the end of the Cold War. Taking readers behind the Party's closed doors, he uncovers Beijing's long, methodical game to displace America from its hegemonic position in both the East Asia regional and global orders through three sequential "strategies of displacement." Beginning in the 1980s, China focused for two decades on "hiding capabilities and biding time." After the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, it became more assertive regionally, following a policy of "actively accomplishing something." Finally, in the aftermath populist elections of 2016, China shifted to an even more aggressive strategy for undermining US hegemony, adopting the phrase "great changes unseen in century." After charting how China's long game has evolved, Doshi offers a comprehensive yet asymmetric plan for an effective US response. Ironically, his proposed approach takes a page from Beijing's own strategic playbook to undermine China's ambitions and strengthen American order without competing dollar-for-dollar, ship-for-ship, or loan-for-loan.

A third edition of this book is now available. This comprehensive and thoroughly updated introduction to Chinese foreign relations discerns the opportunities and limits China faces as it seeks increased 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 popular perceptions of its growing power, Beijing is hampered by both domestic and international constraints. This text's balanced and meticulous assessment shows China's leaders exerting more influence in world affairs but remaining far from dominant. Facing numerous contradictions and tradeoffs, they move cautiously as they deal with a complex global environment.