Annotation
This course draws on Political Geography and International Relations to understand the main geopolitical, security and foreign policy questions tied to the People’s Republic of China (PRC, China). While the course covers the historical background and long-term determinants of China’s position and role in international politics, the main emphasis is put on the late 20th and the 21st century.
The course is divided into three main parts. The first part discusses the historical roots of Chinese politics.
The goal is to examine China’s main foreign policy and security strategy and the way it was defined during the times of Deng Xiaoping and then developed by Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao. The two subsequent parts deal with how this strategy has been restructured in the 2010s and early 2020s.
The second part discusses the drivers and dilemmas of China’s changing foreign-policy, geopolitical and strategic approach. In the third part, we will focus on how these dilemmas and other motivations are reflected in bilateral relations between China and other important players.