The authors provide theoretically sophisticated and empirically rich analysis of contemporary Chinese foreign policy. Critical dimensions examined include the changing ideology, orientation of emerging elite, 'soft power' in foreign policy, new diplomacy on the Korean nuclear crisis, the growing energy factor in China's foreign policy, and the complex interdependence of China and the United States. The insightful analysis will deepen our understanding of the challenges and opportunities that come with a rising China.

Guoli Liu, College of Charleston

Hu Jintao's government espouses 'peaceful development' to counter U.S. reactions that might slow China's rise. In this book, Chinese and American scholars together provide a superbly documented analysis of Hu's policies, e.g., on North Korean nuclearization, Taiwan's non-secession (rather than immediate unification), trade, and peace. Will such policies last until China's political elite may decide to make Beijing more liberal, and thus more predictable to other liberal states? Anybody who wants clues to answer that question must read this book.

Lynn White, Princeton University

As a 'rising' China becomes increasingly engaged in international affairs, it has become imperative to understand China's evolving aspirations and foreign policies and its growing influence on a complex array of global problems. This book makes a significant contribution to this understanding. Well-researched and well-argued chapters consider a wide range of critical issues affecting the international system and U.S.-China relations, including China's management of its 'peaceful rise,' its development and use of 'soft power,' its impact on nuclear proliferation on the Korean Peninsula, its policies toward the Middle East, and its impact on global energy markets.

Robert Ross, Boston College

The analyses presented in this volume are uniformly insightful, current, and well documented. They are also accessible to a fairly broad audience. . . . Highly Recommended.

Choice Reviews

[This book] will help graduate students appreciate the use of IR theories to analyze foreign policy and world politics. Helpfully indexed and well documented, the book demonstrates that theories of IR and foreign policy making are part of China's foreign policy making process.

2008, Journal of Chinese Political Science

This is a timely and rewarding treatise on new trends in China's foreign policy. The book will help both scholars and practitioners gain an understanding of the changing strengths and weaknesses of Chinese foreign policy and their implications for the global community. As such, the volume is a thoughtful and provocative addition to the literature on the foreign policy of the most important country in East Asia.

Dennis Hickey, Director of the Graduate Program in Global Studies, Missouri State University