"Relations between China and the United States have been of central importance to both countries over the past half-century, as well as to all states affected by that relationship—Taiwan and the Soviet Union foremost among them. Only recently, however, has the opening of archives made it possible to research this history dispassionately. The eight chapters in this volume offer the first multinational, multi-archival review of the history of Chinese–American conflict and cooperation in the 1970s. On the Chinese side, normalization of relations was instrumental to Beijing’s effort to enhance its security vis-à-vis the Soviet Union and was seen as a tactical necessity to promote Chinese military and economic interests. The United States was equally motivated by national security concerns. In the wake of Vietnam, policymakers saw normalization as a means of forestalling Soviet power. As the essays in this volume show, normalization was far from a foregone conclusion."

As relations between the United States and China move into a period of intense activity and sensitivity, this timely book addresses the impact of domestic factors in both countries on their post-Cold War/post-Tiananmen relations. The contributors examine the issue from a number of distinct perspectives: the increased impact of domestic factors in both countries due to changing strategic circumstances; the politics of China policy in the United States, with emphasis on the role of interest groups vis-a-vis Congress, the media, and other domestic institutions; the importance of domestic factors in U.S.-China economic conflicts; the combined impact of domestic factors in both China and the United States on the most important conflict of interest in U.S.-China relations -- the Taiwan issue.

The relationship between the United States and China will be of critical importance to the world throughout the twenty-first century. In the West China’s rise is often portrayed as a threat and China seen in negative terms. This book explores the dynamics of this crucial relationship. It looks in particular at what causes an international relationship to be perceived negatively, and considers what can be done to reverse this, arguing that trust is a key factor. It goes on to discuss US and Chinese rhetoric and behaviour in three key areas – climate change, finance, and international security. The book contends that, contrary to much US rhetoric, China’s actions in these areas is often much more flexible and accommodating than the US position, and that the Chinese are much more knowledgeable about, and understanding and appreciative of, the United States than vice versa.

Using an interdisciplinary social-science approach, Temporal Horizons and Strategic Decisions in US–China Relations: Between Instant and Infinite takes on the challenge of understanding the foreign policy decision process through the lens of the temporal horizon. A temporal horizon is the distance into the future a decision-maker prioritizes when evaluating outcomes and considering possibilities. By looking at a number of recent key moments of US–China relations that have immediate, short-term, long term, and far-reaching implications, the book considers which are predominant in the policy process. Looking at the role of time as a factor in the decision-making process is not new to political science, but this book attempts to break down and articulate the process by looking at a range of specific time frames. The book places special attention on future considerations in a variety of ways, combining the insights of psychology, economics, and future studies to consider political science in a new manner.

This volume brings together a group of leading international scholars to discuss how US-China-EU relations will shape the future of international politics. Arguing that these three powers will play a key role in establishing and managing a new world order, the contributors examine how a future global order is developed by the interaction of these leading actors in the international system. The authors also address how the US, China and the EU promote cooperation and manage conflict of interests on a wide spectrum of issues including new security challenges. By linking the management of international affairs to specific policy issues, the book shows that the US-China-EU triangular configuration is a pivotal relationship for understanding contemporary international relations. This book offers a comprehensive assessment of US-China-EU interactions and will be of great interest to students of Asian politics, US foreign policy, EU politics and security studies and IR in general. Robert S. Ross is Professor of Political Science at Boston College, Associate, John King Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, Harvard University, Associated Professor at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, Senior Advisor, Security Studies Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Øystein Tunsjø is Senior Research Fellow at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies. Zhang Tuosheng is director of the research department and senior fellow at the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies.