The first of a three-volume series on the interaction of the US and China in different regions of the world, China, the United States, and the Future of Central Asia explores the delicate balance of competing foreign interests in this resource-rich and politically tumultuous region. Editor David Denoon and his internationally renowned set of contributors assess the different objectives and strategies the U.S. and China deploy in the region and examine how the two world powers are indirectly competitive with one another for influence in Central Asia. While the US is focused on maintaining and supporting its military forces in neighboring states, China has its sights on procuring natural resources for its fast-growing economy and preventing the expansion of fundamentalist Islam inside its borders. This book covers important issues such as the creation of international gas pipelines, the challenges of building crucial transcontinental roadways that must pass through countries facing insurgencies, the efforts of the US and China to encourage and provide better security in the region, and how the Central Asian countries themselves view their role in international politics and the global economy. The book also covers key outside powers with influence in the region; Russia, with its historical ties to the many Central Asian countries that used to belong to the USSR, is perhaps the biggest international presence in the area, and other countries on the region’s periphery like Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, and India have a stake in the fortunes and future of Central Asia as well. A comprehensive, original, and up-to-date collection, this book is a wide-ranging look from noted scholars at a vital part of the world which is likely to receive more attention and face greater instability as NATO forces withdraw from Afghanistan.

Provides insight into U.S. and Chinese involvement in aid, trade, direct investment and strategic ties in Latin America In recent years, China has become the largest trading partner for more than half the countries in Latin America, and demonstrated major commitments in aid and direct investment in various parts of the region. China has also made a number of strategic commitments to countries like Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela which have long-standing policies opposing U.S. influence in the region. China, the United States, and the Future of Latin America posits that this activity is a direct challenge to the role of the U.S. in Latin America and the Caribbean. Part of a three-volume series analyzing U.S.-China relations in parts of the world where neither country is dominant, this volume analyzes the interactions between the U.S., China, and Latin America. The book series has so far considered the differences in operating styles between China and the U.S. in Central Asia and Southeast Asia. This third volume unpacks the implications of competing U.S. and Chinese interests in countries such as Brazil and Argentina, and China’s commitments in Nicaragua and Venezuela. This volume draws upon a variety of policy experts, focusing on the viewpoints of South American and Caribbean scholars as well as scholars from outside states. China’s new global reach and its ambitions, as well as the U.S. response, are analyzed in detail.A nuanced examination of current complexities and future implications, China, the United States and the Future of Latin America provides readers with varied perspectives on the changing economic and strategic picture in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Distinguished experts explain the economic trends and varied political goals at work in Southeast Asia. With China’s emergence as a powerful entity in Southeast Asia, the region has become an unlikely site of conflict between two of the world’s great powers. The United States, historically regarded as the protector of Pacific Southeast Asia—consisting of nations such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Myanmar, and Malaysia—is now called upon to respond to what many would consider bullying on the part of the Chinese. These and other countries have become the economic and political engine of China. While certainly inclined to help the country’s former allies, the United States has grown undeniably closer to China in the recent decades of global interconnected economic growth. China, the United States, and the Future of Southeast Asia uncovers and delves into the complicated dynamics of this situation. Covering topics such as the controversial response to human rights violations, the effects of global economic interconnectedness, and contested sovereignty over resource-rich islands, this volume provides a modern and nuanced perspective on the state of the region. For anyone interested in understanding the evolving global balance of power, China, the United States, and the Future of Southeast Asia illuminates how countries as different as Thailand and Indonesia see the growing competition between Beijing and Washington.

In China and Its Small Neighbors, Sung Chull Kim examines the political implications of the economic asymmetry between China and its small neighbors, part of wider changes in international relations brought about by the rise of China. While being critical of the current trend that focuses on the China-U.S. rivalry alone, Kim argues that a microanalysis of China's advances toward its neighbors is a guide to understanding the trajectory of China's expanding influence and transitions in world politics more broadly. Economic asymmetry—as seen in trade concentration, non-transparency, and reliance on bilateral aid—has made China's small neighbors vulnerable on the political front, thus generating potential threats to their sovereignty and independence. Because China has the upper hand in the bilateral relationships, these weak states practice dual-core hedging as a strategy for survival. They hedge on China for expected economic benefits and at the same time hedge against their powerful neighbor to mitigate the risks involved in that hedging-on. Each small state's mode of hedging depends on its degree of vulnerability and its availability of policy instruments such as multilateral institutions and bilateral partnerships with extra-regional powers.

Relations between China and Russia have evolved dramatically since their first diplomatic contact, particularly during the twentieth century. During the past decade China and Russia have made efforts to strengthen bilateral ties and improve cooperation on a number of diplomatic fronts. The People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation maintain exceptionally close and friendly relations, strong geopolitical and regional cooperation, and significant levels of trade. In The Future of China-Russia Relations, scholars from around the world explore the current state of the relationship between the two powers and assess the prospects for future cooperation and possible tensions in the new century. The contributors examine Russian and Chinese perspectives on a wide range of issues, including security, political relationships, economic interactions, and defense ties. This collection explores the energy courtship between the two nations and analyzes their interests and policies regarding Central Asia, the Korean Peninsula, and Taiwan.

This book focuses on China’s experience in development over the past 70 years and its significance, as well as building a community with a shared future for mankind. The book consists of a collection of papers contributed by researchers from many countries, covering the topics of world order, a community with a shared future for mankind, “the Belt and Road” initiative, exchange and mutual learning between civilizations, China Model, China and the World, multi-bilateral relationship, sustainable development.

The disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 rapidly and irrevocably transformed Central Asia's political landscape. This region of five sovereign states with a population of some fifty million people quickly became a major focus of interest and influence for competing poles of power. The eminent contributors to this volume offer a four-part analysis of the region's new importance in world affairs. Rajan Menon examines the place of Central Asia in a global perspective. Eugene Rumer considers the perspective of the post-9/11 United States. Dimitri Trenin looks at the region from the standpoint of traditional hegemon Russia. Huasheng Zhao provides the view from economic superpower-in-the-making China.

China has become one of the most important forces in the world today, and this book combines views of her internal and external political relations, of the fundamentals of her economic development, and of the political, social and economic pressures that will influence her future.

China’s need for energy has become a driving factor in contemporary world politics and a precondition for sustaining China’s continuing high economic growth. This book argues that a US presence in Central Asia is necessary for securing the energy provision of China from the region.