Interpreting China's Grand Strategy: Past, Present, and Future (Project Air Force Report,). This item is unavailable.Interpreting China's Grand Strategy: Past, Present, and Future (Project Air Force Report,)

China's continuing rapid economic growth and expanding involvement in global affairs pose major implications for the power structure of the international system. To more accurately and fully assess the significance of China's emergence for the United States and the global community, it is necessary to gain a more complete understanding of Chinese security thought and behavior. This book addresses such questions as: What are China's most fundamental national security objectives? How has the Chinese state employed force and diplomacy in the pursuit of these objectives over the centuries? What security strategy does China pursue today and how will it evolve in the future? The authors assert that Chinese history, the behavior of earlier rising powers, and the basic structure and logic of international power relations all suggest that, although a strong China will likely become more assertive globally, this possibility is unlikely to emerge before 2015-2020 at the earliest. To handle this situation, the authors argue that the United States should adopt a policy of realistic engagement with China that combines efforts to pursue cooperation whenever possible; to prevent, if necessary, the acquisition by China of capabilities that would threaten America's core national security interests; and to remain prepared to cope with the consequences of a more assertive China.

Managing the rise of China constitutes one of the most important challenges facing the United States in the early 21st century. China has always been an important state in the international system because of its large territory, vast resources, and huge population. But its significance for international politics has dramatically increased since 1978, when the market reforms initiated by Deng Xiaoping placed China on a course that could lead to rapid transformation of potential resources that had remained untapped. This process is significant not only because it promises the internal transformation of one of the world's oldest civilizations but also because - if concluded successfully - it could result in a dramatic power transition within the international system. The rise of China is consequently of great analytical and policy interest, and examining the determinates of China's grand strategy is critical to any assessment of current and future Chinese security behavior, especially Chinese behavior toward the United States and its allies.

This book identifies and analyzes the major factors determining Chinese grand strategy - past, present, and future - to better understand the motives behind Chinese strategic behavior and to assess how such behavior might evolve in the future. The ultimate purpose of such analysis is to more clearly understand whether, and in what manner, China's grand strategy might pose fundamental challenges to U.S. strategic interests.