Harmony and War: Confucian Culture and Chinese Power Politics (Contemporary Asia in the World) - Hardcover

Wang, Yuan-kang

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0231151403 ISBN 13: 9780231151405

Verlag: Columbia University Press, 2010

Inhaltsangabe

Book by Wang Yuankang

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Críticas

a necessary read for those concerned with the issue of cultural versus strategic realism and Chinese strategic culture...highly recommended. Choice Wang's book provides an accessible, historically well-informed and methodologicallywell-constructed account of an important phenomenon of Chinese history. -- Aleksandra Kubat China Quarterly ...a must-read for those who are interested in Chinese power politics and strategic culture. -- Julia Dinh T.H.L. Asian Politics and Policy Yuan-kang Wang's Harmony and War is the most important and well-conceived application of structural realist theory to Chinese foreign policy (past and present) to date. -- Gregory J. Moore Journal of Chinese Political Science

Reseña del editor

Confucianism has shaped a certain perception of Chinese security strategy, symbolized by the defensive, nonaggressive Great Wall. Many believe China is antimilitary and reluctant to use force against its enemies. It practices pacifism and refrains from expanding its boundaries, even when nationally strong. In a path-breaking study traversing six centuries of Chinese history, Yuan-kang Wang resoundingly discredits this notion, recasting China as a practitioner of realpolitik and a ruthless purveyor of expansive grand strategies. Leaders of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) prized military force and shrewdly assessed the capabilities of China's adversaries. They adopted defensive strategies when their country was weak and pursued expansive goals, such as territorial acquisition, enemy destruction, and total military victory, when their country was strong. Despite the dominance of an antimilitarist Confucian culture, warfare was not uncommon in the bulk of Chinese history. Grounding his research in primary Chinese sources, Wang outlines a politics of power that are crucial to understanding China's strategies today, especially its policy of "peaceful development," which, he argues, the nation has adopted mainly because of its military, economic, and technological weakness in relation to the United States.

Über diese Auflage

• Verlag: Columbia University Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0231151403
• ISBN 13: 9780231151405
• Einband: Tapa dura
• Anzahl der Seiten: 328