Competing Chinese Conceptions of International Order
Project Lead: Haoming Xiong
Appendix: a table summary of the four Chinese visions of international order
A central question in contemporary international relations is how China’s rise will reshape the current international order. Although much has been written about Beijing’s compliance and contestation to the US-led liberal order, less is known about the Chinese visions of international order, how these visions or their important features can contribute to the existing order literature, and if implemented in practice, influence peace and stability in Asia and the world at large. In this article, we provide a conceptual framework of order and use it to review the recent works of four prominent Chinese thinkers from the socalled “Chinese School of IR theory,” critically evaluating their visions of order and the ordering mechanisms that produce these visions. We compare these conceptions with the mainstream understandings of international order and identify their theoretical and empirical contributions and limitations. Based on a critical analysis of these visions and recent Chinese discourses and behaviors, we discuss implications for contemporary Chinese foreign policy.
Publications:
Xiong, Haoming, Tom Chen, and Bear F. Braumoeller. "Competing Chinese Understandings of International Order." Paper prepared for presentation at the NATO Strategic Concept Seminar at the United States Military Academy at West Point, February 3-4, 2022.