The practice of power: US relations with China since 1949

Abstract

This book explains the change in American relations with China after 1949 from hostility to rapprochement, and to full normalization of the ties in 1979. It goes on to examine the relationship after normalization in 1979, a period when the United States has come to view China as less of a challenge but still resistant to certain of the norms of the current international order. The book begins by examining US effort to build, and then maintain an international and domestic consensus behind its China policy. It then looks at changing US perceptions of the capabilities of the Chinese state. It shows how American positions on Chinese representation at the UN and on the trade embargo were subtly eroded, not least by changes in US domestic public opinion. The author argues that previous explanations of American relations with China have dwelt too single-mindedly on ideas associated with the strategic triangle and that instead we need to embed our understanding of the evolution of American relations with China within a wider structure of relationships at the global and domestic levels. This book is intended for academics and students of international relations, specialists on US foreign policy and Chinese foreign policy.