China and Europe both decisively shape twenty-first century global politics. Successful cooperation between Europe and China continues, notably in climate change mitigation, or finding a way out of the financial crisis. Relations are also increasingly institutionalised, such as through Summits or High-Level Dialogues. However, although in 2013 the EU and China have celebrated the 10-year-anniversary of their Strategic Partnership, struggles have re-emerged, in relation to human rights, intervention in crisis regions such as Syria, and trade subsidisation and protectionism in areas such as the solar energy industry. Given this simultaneous presence of partnership and competition, this edited volume investigates if Sino-European relations have become what Henry Kissinger has termed a “co-evolution”: both China and Europe “pursue their domestic imperatives, cooperating where possible, and adjust their relations to minimize conflict”. The volume sheds light on four key areas of Europe-China relations: first, high politics and security relations; second, the European sovereign debt crisis; third, energy and environmental issues; and fourth, soft power and public diplomacy. As the volume is authored by Chinese and European early-stage scholars in equal numbers, it adds a balance of perspectives and a future-oriented outlook to the still-low but increasing number of works on Europe/EU-China relations.

In 25 years, EU-China relations have come far, further than many could have imagined - but how much further can these relations be taken? Today, their bilateral relations are at a crossroads. In effect, it has been 25 years since the EU and China agreed upon the legally binding Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement, which sets the basis for their diplomatic relations. In an ever increasingly complex and globalised international environment, these actors have become mutually interdependent on a variety of levels. In 2007, they agreed to revise and update the 1985 accord and replace it with an all-encompassing Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. However, more than three years passed, and there are many points of contention which need to be negotiated. What obstacles are blocking this agreement? How can these obstacles be overcome? What concessions should be made and where? This book will provide an up-to-date analysis of the problematic concerns, and the means to resolve these issues, that range from human rights, to international trade conflicts and climate change.

This book draws together leading experts to examine the key issues in China-EU relations. China-EU relations are increasingly complex and affected by a number of inter-related factors, such as China’s global rise, growing China-US strategic competition, US global withdrawal, the transatlantic split, the China-Russia comprehensive "alliance," and Brexit. The book highlights the struggles of both China and the EU to look for a dynamic and durable mode of engagement in an attempt to achieve the balance between opportunities and challenges, and between partnership and rivalry. International contributors explore how to conceptualise China-EU relations and identify their differences and commonalities such as the EU’s role in China’s foreign policy process and how the EU works with China as a strategic partner. Finally, it analyses China’s and the EU’s perceptions of their own present and future roles. Shedding light on the perspectives of understanding and change in China-EU relations and its impact on multilateralism, it will appeal to researchers and professionals working in International Relations, International Political Economy and area studies who are interested in the rise of emerging powers and the changing world order.

Objective, critical, optimistic, and with a global focus, this textbook combines international relations theory, history, up-to-date research, and current affairs to give the student a comprehensive, unbiased understanding of international politics. It integrates theory and traditional approaches with globalization and research on newer topics such as terrorism, the rise of new economic superpowers, and the impact of global communications and social networking to offer the ideal breadth and depth of coverage for a one-semester undergraduate course. Student learning is supported and enhanced by box features and "Close Up" sections with context and further information, "Critical Case Studies" that highlight controversial and complex current affairs topics and show how the world works in practice, and questions to stimulate discussion, review key concepts, and encourage further study. It brilliantly demonstrates the significance and interconnectiveness of globalization and new security challenges in the 21st century and illuminates the role of leadership in transnational crises.

This book explores China’s policy towards the European Union, using the case study of four member states from Central Europe: Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. Gabriela Pleschová documents China’s strategic approach to engaging with these countries bilaterally and multilaterally, through intensified diplomatic and soft-power campaigns, upgrading them to strategic partners, offering loans and promising investments.

The emergence of new powers fundamentally questions the traditional views on international relations, multilateralism or security as a range of countries now competes for regional and global leadership - economically, politically, technologically and militarily. As the focus of international attention shifts from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the European states in particular are seen to lose influence relative to the emerging economic powerhouses of China, Russia, India and Brazil. European nations find themselves too small to engage meaningfully with these continent-sized powers and, in an increasingly multipolar world are concerned their influence can only continue to decline. This book analyses the shifts in the structure of global power and examines the threats and opportunities they bring to Europe. Leading European Contributors reflect on how the EU can utilise collective strength to engage and compete with rapidly developing nations. They examine perceptions of the EU among the emerging powers and the true meaning and nature of any strategic partnerships negotiated. Finally they explore the shape and structure of the international system in the 21st century and how the EU can contribute to and shape it.

The 'Belt and Road' initiative announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 aims at reviving the ancient trade routes connecting China to Europe and Africa: the '21st Century Maritime Silk Road' and the inland 'Silk Road Economic Belt'. Both maritime and land routes of the New Silk Road meet Europe in the Baltics — a region accounting for some 150 million inhabitants representing 30% of the total EU population. The maritime route enters Europe through the Mediterranean Sea before reaching the largest European seaports of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea up to Saint Petersburg in Russia. The land route starting from West China crosses Central Asia, Russia and Belarus before reaching the shores of the Baltic Sea.This book focuses on the business and economic dimensions of China's initiative: Chinese government objective and policies, the strategies of Chinese and foreign firms along the Silk Road, trade and investment between China and Nordic-Baltic countries, the Eurasia Land Bridge corridors and logistics, the impact of the New Silk Road on the economies of Central Asia, new institutions financing the 'Belt and Road', cross-cultural challenges and Sino-foreign joint ventures along the New Silk Road. The direct impact of China's initiative on economic sectors such as logistics services; the shipping, port management and maritime industry; construction and high-speed train; energy and engineering; and e-commerce, information technology and tourism will be assessed.Readers will be provided with an in-depth analysis of the opportunities and challenges for companies and regions along the New Silk Road as well as 17 short case studies focusing on China-led projects currently developed along the 'Belt and Road' and 15 maps of the New Silk Road, the Baltic Sea Region and Central Asia to help in understanding China's vision and strategic moves.

This book investigates the expanding involvement of China in security cooperation in Africa. Drawing on leading and emerging scholars in the field, the volume uses a combination of analytical insights and case studies to unpack the complexity of security challenges confronting China and the continent. It interrogates how security considerations impact upon the growing economic and social links China has developed with African states.

Cities have become increasingly important to global politics, but have largely occupied a peripheral place in the academic study of International Relations (IR). This is a notable oversight for the discipline, although one which may be explained by IR’s traditional state centrism, the subjugation of the city to the demands of the territorial state in the modern period, and a lack of conceptual and analytical frameworks that can allow scholars to include the impact of cities within their work. Presenting case-specific scholarship from leading experts in the field, each contribution guides the reader through the changing nature of cities in the international system and their increasing prominence in global governance outcomes. The book features case studies on the financial power of cities, city action in the security domain, collaboration of cities in coping with environmental problems, transnational urban regions, and mayors as international actors to illustrate if the relationship between the city and the state has changed in profound ways, and how cities are empowered by structural changes in world politics. The multidisciplinary and global focus in The Power of Cities in International Relations sheds much needed light on the significance of the reemergence of cities from the long shadow of the nation-state. Only by examining the mechanisms that have empowered cities in the last few decades can we understand their new functions and capabilities in global politics.

This edited volume analyzes the changing nature of the relationship between China and Europe. This relationship has been subject to significant shifts and transformations, not least because of the enormity of China's social and economic development since1978 and the political consequences this has brought about in international politics. The global financial crisis of 2008-09 and the subsequent sovereign debt emergency in Europe have also altered the nature of the interactions between the two regions. China has become a more assertive, confident, and active player on the global stage. Its economic development is now a major pillar of the global economy and its growth has been conducive for a fragile economic recovery to take place in Europe and beyond.