China's Struggle for Status: The Realignment of International Relations (review)

[ 166 ] asia policy China’s Struggle for Status: The Realignment of International Relations Yong Deng New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008 • 312 pp. This book provides an original and comprehensive account of China’s remarkable rise from the periphery to the center stage of post–Cold War world politics. main argument Chinese foreign relations since the Cold War have been a process whereby the once beleaguered country has adapted to, and proactively realigned, its international environment. In so doing, the ruling Communist Party has striven to simultaneously manage China’s domestic and international transitions while balancing nationalism with globalization, power with recognition, and change with compliance within the globalized world. This duality is evident in Beijing’s policies regarding such key issues as international hierarchy and Taiwan. Moreover, developments in world politics, though not always of China’s making, have overall aligned well with Beijing’s policy adjustments. policy implications • Chineseforeignpolicydoesnotneatlyfitanyofthemainstreaminternational relations theories. Thus, when devising a China policy, the U.S. needs to creatively address Chinese desire for recognition, change, and power. • Given that status recognition is such a potent force driving Chinese action abroad, while being tough, the U.S. should eschew characterizing disagreements with China in terms of “us versus them” strategic hostility. • The Sino-U.S. relationship does not exist in isolation but should be considered by Washington in a broad rethinking of how to renew U.S. global leadership. As an up-and-coming power, China is more likely to become the “responsible stakeholder” that the U.S. wants it to become if the constraints on wayward behavior and zero-sum power competition are firmly embedded in a world continually defined by openness, globalization, and shared governance. ...