The end of the cold war initially thrust China to the periphery of world politics; today, it is at center stage. The country's foreign policy path has markedly differed from those of its past and other great powers in history. As such, China's rise has not simply challenged the international status quo, but also challenged the conventional wisdom on international relations. Intense scholarly inquiries, media coverage, and public and policy debates have led to an explosive growth of knowledge about the various dimensions, dyadic relationships, and issues in China's ever expanding foreign relations. Left unclear, however, are vital questions concerning precisely how distinctive and uncertain is China's international trajectory: What is the nature of its discontent and revisionism regarding the world order? What can one expect of its behavior? And finally, how should the international community evaluate and react to the China challenge? These questions are difficult, but they must be confronted. Just as China's rise poses both dangers and opportunities, so does exploring the international politics surrounding it hold difficulties and promises for innovative thinking on how states relate to each other in the current world.

This book attempts to answer these questions by combining an overarching analytical approach and a multilevel empirical inquiry. My primary goal is not theory building, although I draw out implications pointing to new ideas on international relations in general. My main goal is to properly account for the dynamics and patterns of China's foreign relations.