Abstract:

(This paper represents a part of my monograph)

China's foreign and security policy has been widely discussed for decades and there are still several conflicting understandings of Chinese (grand) strategy. In the first part of this chapter, I map the current academic debate on the topic and present the most prominent camps: understanding Beijing through the cultural lens, the realist approach with rational choice theory, and a hybridized theoretical frameworks such as the political-survival prospect model by Kai He which emphasizes the correlation between Beijing's foreign policies and its leaders' need for domestic appeasement towards not only the public, but also the political elite and rival factions in the upper echelons of the CCP.

With regards to theory, I propose fusing neoclassical realism with culture-specific (Chinese) analytical variables such as guanxi and mianzi to create a less universalist framework that respects the nation at hand (instead of assuming all nations are equal in the international system).

Finally I suggest how to move forward with the Central Asian angle and why I believe it is an important, yet understudied region with regards to Chinese foreign policy. It is the goal of this dissertation to compare the much more researched Chinese foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific region with that of Central Asia, hopefully contributing with new knowledge on Beijing's strategies in a permissive and restrictive environment.