THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
Elliott School of International Affairs
Department of Political Science
Chinese Foreign Policy
Political Science 6372, CRN 86891
Fall 2014
Tuesdays, 5:10-7:00 p.m.
Elliott School, Room B17
Professor David Shambaugh
Office: 1957 E St., #503
Office Hours: (by appt. only)
Mondays 3:00-5:00 p.m.
Email: shambaug@gwu.edu
COURSE MECHANICS
Course Description
This graduate-level course covers the foreign relations of the People’s Republic of China. The
temporal focus of the course is on the contemporary (post-1949) period. Readings, lectures, and
discussion will focus on the sources of China’s international conduct, its interactions with major
powers, its relations and neighboring countries, its “going global” into different regions of the
world, its participation in global governance and international regimes, its national security
environment and coercive capabilities.
In addition to learning about the substance of these facets of China’s foreign relations and
security, the course conveys several important practical skills to students: critical analysis;
forecasting; oral presentation and policy advocacy; teamwork; and primary source research.
Different assignments are designed to develop and advance these skills.
There are no formal prerequisites other than a strong interest in the subject, and a willingness to
read a fair amount and work hard. However, students with no background in contemporary
Chinese affairs will find their work cut out for them, and therefore some background in Chinese
or Asian history and international relations is highly desirable. Those with Chinese language
skills will be expected to use them in readings and research.
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Readings
The first course requirement is to do all of the required readings in advance of each class session.
You will notice that each session includes required, recommended, and suggested readings. The
second category is as important as the first, but not required for purchase. Suggested readings are
for those who wish to dig further into a topic. There is a rich, excellent, and expanding
secondary literature on China’s foreign relations and this course will expose students to a large
body of it. As required/recommended readings are sometimes heavy (approximately one book
per week), if you cannot do it all, read as much as possible. Students are also expected to go
beyond the books that are the required and recommended readings to read more deeply into the
subject matter—there is an enormous amount of useful reading in the periodical literature in
journals like International Security, Survival, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Studies Quarterly, The
China Quarterly, The China Journal, The Journal of Contemporary China, China: An
International Journal, Chinese Security, The Chinese Journal of International Politics, Issues &
Studies, Asian Survey, The National Interest, etc.
There are a large number of books that are required for reading and recommended for purchase.
All are available in the GWU Bookstore, from http://www.amazon.com, and other sources.
REQUIRED FOR PURCHASE:
Christopher Ford, The Mind of Empire: China’s History and Modern Foreign Relations OR
Odd Arne Westad, Restless Empire: China and the World Since 1750
Marc Lanteigne, Chinese Foreign Policy (second edition)
Robert Sutter, Foreign Relations of the PRC (NOT Chinese Foreign Relations!)
David Shambaugh, China Goes Global: The Partial Power
Lowell Dittmer and George T. Yu (eds.), China, the Developing World, and the New Global
Dynamic
PLUS ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:
Henry Kissinger, On China
Melvin Gurtov, Will This Be China’s Century?
Martin Jacques, When China Rules the World: The Rise of the Middle Kingdom and the End of
the Western World
Aaron Friedberg, A Contest for Supremacy: China, America, and the Struggle for the Mastery of
Asia
Jonathan Fenby, Will China Dominate the 21st Century?
RECOMMENDED FOR PURCHASE
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David Shambaugh (ed.), Tangled Titans: The United States and China
Bruce Elleman (ed.), Beijing Power and China’s Borders: Twenty Nations in Asia
Peter Nolan, Is China Buying the World?
Li Mingjiang (ed.), Soft Power: China’s Emerging Strategy in International Politics
Zheng Wang, Never Forget National Humiliation: Historical Memory in Chinese Politics and
Foreign Relations
Andrew Nathan and Andrew Scobell, China’s Search for Security
Rosemary Foot and Andrew Walter, China, the United States, and Global Order
Denny Roy, Return of the Dragon: Rising China and Regional Security
Lowell Dittmer and George T. Yu (eds.), China, the Developing World, and the New Global
Dynamic
In the Classroom
Class sessions will be mainly professorial lecture with student Q&A plus discussion of the
weekly readings. For the latter, Professor Shambaugh will pose 3-4 questions to the class (or call
on individuals) for discussion. If you are going to miss class, please notify the instructor in
advance, do the required readings, and get notes from a classmate.
Course Assignments
Students will be required to write three papers during the semester—each aimed at developing
different skills.
The first written assignment is a 10-page (double-spaced) book review of one of the main “China
rise” books assigned for Session 1. The review will (a) describe the author’s main argument(s);
(b) assess the author’s evidence and whether the evidence supports the argument(s); and (c)
offers your own critique of the author’s argument(s). This paper is due in class at session 3.
The second written assignment is a 10-page analysis of one case study used an instrument in
Chinese foreign relations, covered in sessions 5-8. The choice of topic is your’s to make, but
must be drawn from the list of topics in the syllabus (below). If you like you can propose an
alternative topic (institution), but this must be approved by the professor. The paper is due in
class the day we cover that topic.
The third written assignment is a 10-page (double-spaced) exercise on forecasting in the form of
a simulated National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) of one topic listed under Session 11-14 of the
syllabus and is due in class at the session for which it is assigned. The paper should analyze (a)
the three main variables (rank ordered) that you think will affect the relationship over the next
three-five years, and (b) predict three alternative scenarios (high, medium, low likelihood).
Choice of topic is for the student and does not need to be approved. Paper is due in class when
we cover that topic.
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*Ph.D.-track students in the Department of Political Science are required to write one additional
paper during the semester: a ten-page critical literature review of any single topic on the syllabus.
Grading
Grades will be comprised of the following components:
 NIE (30%)
 Case study (30%)
 Book Review Essay (30%)
 Class participation (10%)
*NOTE: all late papers are penalized one full letter grade for every 3 days late (or one
increment per day). No exceptions made, except with written medical or personal excuse.
Office Hours
Professor Shambaugh will hold office hours by appointment only for 15 minute blocks of time
on Mondays afternoons from 3:00-4:45 p.m. Appointments should be made in advance via
email (shambaug@gwu.edu). If students have another class or activity at this time, or the slots
fill up, we will try to arrange an alternative time.
COURSE SCHEDULE & READINGS
PART I: THEORY & METHODS
Session 1: The Evolution and Study of Chinese Foreign Policy
Required:
Robert Sutter, Foreign Relations of the PRC, chapters 1-4 and 6.
Marc Lanteigne, Chinese Foreign Policy, chapter 1.
David Shambaugh, China Goes Global, chapter 1 and 8.
ASSIGNMENT #1:
Choose on book from the following list of recent “China rise” books and write a 10-page critique
of it as described above. This review is due in class at Session 3.
Henry Kissinger, On China
Melvin Gurtov, Will This Be China’s Century?
Martin Jacques, When China Rules the World: The Rise of the Middle Kingdom and the End of
the Western World
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Aaron Friedberg, A Contest for Supremacy: China, America, and the Struggle for the Mastery of
Asia
Jonathan Fenby, Will China Dominate the 21st Century?
PART II: SOURCES OF CHINA’S FOREIGN POLICY
Session 2: Historical Sources of China’s Foreign Relations
Required:
Odd Arne Westad, Restless Empire: China and the World Since 1750
OR
Christopher Ford, The Mind of Empire: China’s History & Modern Foreign Relations
Suggested:
John King Fairbank, “China’s Foreign Policy in Historical Perspective,” Foreign Affairs (April
1969).
John King Fairbank (ed.), The Chinese World Order: Traditional China’s Foreign Relations
Yan Xuetong, Ancient Chinese Thought, Modern Chinese Power
John Wills (ed.), Past and Present in China’s Foreign Policy
Session 3: The Influence of National Identity, Culture, and Perceptions
Required:
David Shambaugh, China Goes Global, chapter 2, 3 (only pages 45-61).
Robert Sutter, Foreign Relations of the PRC, chapter 5.
Recommended:
Zheng Wang, Never Forget National Humiliation: Historical Memory in Chinese Politics and
Foreign Relations
Suggested:
Yong Deng, China’s Struggle for Status
Session 4: The Foreign Policy Process
Required:
David Shambaugh, China Goes Global, chapter 3 (pages 61-72).
Marc Lanteigne, Chinese Foreign Policy, chapter 2.
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Recommended:
Linda Jakobson and Dean Knox, New Foreign Policy Actors in China, available at:
http://books.sipri.org/files/PP/SIPRIPP26.pdf.
Suggested:
Gilbert Rozman (ed.) Chinese Foreign Policy: Who Makes It & How Is It Made?
PART III: INSTRUMENTS AND INFLUENCE IN CHINA’S FOREIGN POLICY
Session 5: China’s Global Economic Influence
Required:
David Shambaugh, China Goes Global, chapter 5.
Marc Lanteigne, Chinese Foreign Policy, chapter 3.
Lowell Dittmer and Geroge T Yu (eds.), China, the Developing World, and the New Global
Dynamic, chapter 3.
Recommended:
Peter Nolan, Is China Buying the World?
Suggested:
Juan Pablo Cardenal and Heriberto Araujo, China’s Silent Army
Henry Sanderson and Michael Forsythe, China’s Superbank: Debt, Oil, and Influence
CASE STUDY CHOICES:
China in the WTO
China in the World Bank
China in the IMF
China in the Asian Development Bank
China in the Inter-American Development Bank
The China Development Bank
China’s Export-Import Bank
Huawei, Haier, Geely, or another multinational corporation
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China Investment Corporation
SINOPEC, CNOOC, CNPC or another national oil company
Minmetals
Ministry of Commerce Bureau of Aid to Foreign Countries
Session 6: China’s Global Cultural Influence
Required:
David Shambaugh, China Goes Global, chapter 6.
Recommended:
Li Mingjiang (ed.), Soft Power: China’s Emerging Strategy in International Politics
Suggested:
Joseph S. Nye, Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics
Joshua Kurlantzick, Charm Offensive: How China’s Soft Power is Transforming the World
Sheng Ding, The Dragon’s Hidden Wings: How China Rises with its Soft Power
Jian Wang, Soft Power in China
Michael Barr, Who’s Afraid of China? The Challenge of Chinese Soft Power
Hongyi Lai and Yiyi Lu (eds.), China’s Soft Power and International Relations
Jing Sun, Japan and China as Charm Rivals: Soft Power in Regional Diplomacy
William A. Callahan and Elena Barabantseva, China Orders the World: Normative Soft Power and
Foreign Policy
CASE STUDY CHOICES:
The Hanban and Confucius Institutes
Xinhua News Agency (international)
CCTV
China Radio International
State Council Information Office
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office of Public Diplomacy
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China Scholarship Council
Ministry of Culture’s China Arts and Entertainment Group
Session 7: China’s Security Strategy and Military Influence
Required:
David Shambaugh, China Goes Global, chapter 7.
Marc Lanteigne, Chinese Foreign Policy, chapter 5.
Recommended:
Andrew Nathan and Andrew Scobell, China’s Search for Security
Suggested:
Dennis Blasko, The Chinese Army Today: Tradition and Transformation in the 21st Century
David Shambaugh, Modernizing China’s Military: Progress, Problems, and Prospects
Richard Fisher, China’s Military Modernization: Building for Regional and Global Reach
Ashley Tellis, Strategic Asia 2012-2013: China’s Military Challenge
Liselotte Odgaard, China and Coexistence: Beijing’s National Security Strategy for the 21st
Century
CASE STUDY CHOICES:
China’s joint military exercises with foreign countries
China’s disaster relief operations
Great Wall Industries, NORINCO, or other companies involved in China’s arms sales abroad
China’s training of foreign military personnel
China’s “strategic dialogues” with foreign countries
China’s involvement in UN peacekeeping operations (UNPKO)
Session 8: China and Global Governance
Required:
David Shambaugh, China Goes Global, chapter 4.
Marc Lanteigne, Chinese Foreign Policy, chapter 4.
Recommended:
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Rosemary Foot and Andrew Walter, China, the United States, and Global Order
Suggested:
Gerald Chan, China’s Compliance in Global Affairs
Ann Kent, Beyond Compliance: China, International Organizations, and Global Security
Alastair I. Johnston, Social States: China and International Institutions, 1980-2000
Gerald Chan et al (eds.), China Engages Global Governance
Li Mingjiang et al, China Joins Global Governance
CASE STUDY CHOICES:
China and the World Health Organization
China and INTERPOL
China and the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)
China and the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR)
China and the UN Summits on Climate Change
China’s participation in any United Nations Agency (e.g. UNESCO, UNEP, FAO, ILO, ICAO,
WMO, etc.)
PART IV: BILATERAL & REGIONAL INTERACTIONS
Session 9: China and the United States
Required:
Marc Lanteigne, Chinese Foreign Policy, chapter 6.
Robert Sutter, Foreign Relations of the PRC, chapter 7.
David Shambaugh, China Goes Global, chapter 3 (pages 73-78).
Recommended:
David Shambaugh (ed.), Tangled Titans: The United States and China
Kenneth Lieberthal and Wang Jisi, Addressing U.S.-China Strategic Mistrust, Brookings,
available at:
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/Papers/2012/3/30%20us%20china%20liebert
hal/0330_china_lieberthal.pdf.
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Suggested:
Robert Sutter, U.S.-Chinese Relations: Perilous Past, Pragmatic Present
James Steinberg and Michael O’Hanlon, Strategic Reassurance and Resolve: U.S.-China
Relations in the 21st Century
Session 10: China and Europe
Required:
David Shambaugh, China Goes Global, chapter 3 (pages 86-94).
Robert Sutter, Foreign Relations of the PRC, chapter 9 (pages 293-302)
Marc Lanteigne, Chinese Foreign Policy, chapter 8 (pages 144-149)
Recommended:
European Council on Foreign Relations, A Power Audit of Europe-China Relations, available at:
http://ecfr.3cdn.net/532cd91d0b5c9699ad_ozm6b9bz4.pdf.
Suggested:
Eberhard Sandschneider, David Shambaugh, and Zhou Hong (eds.), China and Europe:
Perceptions, Policies & Prospects
Nicola Casarini, Remaking Global Order: The Evolution of China-Europe Relations
David Kerr and Liu Fei (eds.), The International Politics of EU-China Relations
European Union External Action Service (EEAS), available at: http://eeas.europa.eu/china/.
Europe-China Research and Advice Network (ECRAN), available at: http://www.euecran.eu/.
Session11: China, Russia, and Central Asia
Required:
David Shambaugh, China Goes Global, chapter 3 (pages 78-86, 104-105).
Marc Lanteigne, Chinese Foreign Policy, chapter 7.
Robert Sutter, Foreign Relations of the PRC, chapter 8 (pages 250-260).
Lowell Dittmer and George Yu, China and the Developing World, chapter 6.
Recommended:
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Bruce Elleman (ed.), Beijing’s Power and China’s Borders: Twenty Neighbors in Asia
Suggested:
Elizabeth Wishnick, Russia, China, and the United States in Central Asia
Taylor Fravel, Strong Borders, Secure Nation
Session 12: China and East Asia
Required:
David Shambaugh, China Goes Global, chapter 3 (pages 95-104).
Robert Sutter, Foreign Relations of the PRC, chapter 8.
Marc Lanteigne, Chinese Foreign Policy, chapter 7.
Dittmer and Yu, China, the Developing World, and New Global Dynamic, chapters 4.
Recommended:
Denny Roy, Return of the Dragon: Rising China and Regional Security
Suggested:
David Shambaugh (ed.), Power Shift: China and Asia’s New Dynamics
Robert Sutter, China’s Rise in Asia
Gilbert Rozman, China’s Strategic Thought Towards Asia
David Shambaugh and Michael Yahuda (eds.), International Relations of Asia (2nd edition)
Robert Kaplan, Asia’s Caldron: The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific
Bronson Percival, The Dragon Looks South: China and Southeast Asia in the New Century
Session 13: China’s Relations with South Asia and the Middle East
Required:
David Shambaugh, China Goes Global, chapter 3 (pages 105-120)
Robert Sutter, Foreign Relations of the PRC, chapter 9 (pages 267-292)
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Marc Lanteigne, Chinese Foreign Policy, chapter 8.
Dittmer and Yu, China, the Developing World, and New Global Dynamic, chapter 5, 7.
Suggested:
John Garver, Protracted Contest: Sino-Indian Rivalry in the Twentieth Century
John Garver, China and Iran
U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, China and the Middle East
Session 14: China’s Relations with Africa and Latin America
Required:
Lowell Dittmer and George T. Yu (eds.), China, the Developing World, and the New Global
Dynamic, chapter 8-9.
Suggested:
Howard French, China’s Second Continent
David Shinn and Joshua Eisenman, China and Africa
Richard Rotberg (ed.), China Into Africa
Arthur Waldron (ed.), China in Africa
Chris Alden, China in Africa
Deborah Brautigam, The Dragon’s Gift
Adrian Hearn and Jose Luis Leon-Manriquez (eds.), China Engages Latin America: Tracing the
Trajectory
Henry Sanderson and Michael Forsythe, China’s Superbank: Debt, Oil, and Influence
R. Elvin Ellis, China in Latin America: The What’s and Wherefores
R. Elvin Ellis, China on the Ground in Latin America
Adrian Hearn et al, China Engages Latin America: Tracing the Trajectory
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