Course info

Objectives

This module is designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to the major foreign policy issues and challenges facing the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the post-cold war international system. The primary focus will be on Beijing’s evolving opening-up to the international system since the PRC foundation in 1949, from the Soviet alignment and subsequent “isolationism” of the Maoist regime, to the post-Maoist and post-Dengist development of strengthened global linkages and cooperation. The module will also examine domestic sources of China’s foreign policy thinking, including actors such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), and the effects of China’s economic development and reforms on its international relations. Specific regional case studies will be discussed, including China’s relations with the Indo-Pacific region, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and changing Sino-American relations. Finally, the class will examine China’s future challenges as it attempts to define its emergent global role as a great power in the 21st century.


Learning Outcomes

Students will gain an understanding of:

 the development of China’s foreign relations since the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949;
 the process of, and influences upon, foreign policy-making in China;
 the major issues facing China as it develops its regional and global policies;
 China’s widening great power role in modern international relations; and
 China’s role in shaping the disciplines of IR and comparative politics.