Publication details
Ideological Sources of China’s International Behaviour
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| Year of publication | 2013 |
| Type | Chapter of a book |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
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| Description | If we were to characterize these current times in terms of international relations, the Rise of Asia comes readily to mind. The global power shift is already creating its own references, such as “The Asian Century” or “The Post-American World.” Most of the attention is presently focused on China and therefore it is important to analyse the ideological sources of China’s international behaviour. How will the world’s second largest economy wielding an arsenal of nuclear weapons behave in an international system it joined in the 1970s remains a crucial issue not only for its neighbours but the entire world. The authors assume that in the foreseeable future, China’s behaviour in international relations will be primarily influenced by growing nationalism mixed with Confucianism and secondarily by communist ideology. The power of communist ideology is being eroded by the reality of everyday life in China. Chinese political elites will therefore increasingly utilize nationalism and Confucianism as instruments of mass mobilization, as well as a mechanism legitimizing their position in the power pyramid. To stay on the saddled tiger, they will be forced to limit openness for the sake of formulation of a more radical nationalist alternative. This path might increase the risks of conflict escalation with neighbouring states. |