Political Science 346China in World Politics Syllabus 2017-2018
Ed Friedman
University of Wisconsin
Class Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 2:30pm-3:45pm
Classroom: Ingraham 120
What does the rise of a great power China with global reach and with the world’s largest economy augur for its neighbors in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and Russia, as well as for states in other regions of the world, the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Europe, North America, Australia, the Pacific Islands, the Arctic and Antarctica? International relations theories will be applied to clarify forecasts about China’s future role in the world and its regions.
To explore these large issues, the class will also focus on the changing interests of leaders and ruling groups in China, the nationalist passions which these Chinese leaders engender and mobilize, as well as the ambitions, capabilities and grand strategies of Chinese ruling groups. The course goal is to comprehend the likely future policies of the Chinese State in the International realm.
There will be a six (6) week exam, a ten (10) week exam, and a final exam. The final can be found at the end of this syllabus. For the 6 and 10-week exams, the essay questions will be provided a week or so before the test. Short answer questions are open book.
PC usage is not permitted without consent of the instructor.
This is a four (4) credit course. The class meets twice a week for 75 minutes each. The TA-led sections are key to the fourth credit. Therefore, the TA’s evaluation of performance in section contributes to the final grade. Graduate students must immediately contact the instructor.
The Name of the TA: Qingwei Wang
Course Leaning Outcomes: Students will learn the changing interests of leaders and ruling groups in China, gain knowledge about capabilities and gran strategies of Chinese ruling groups, comprehend the likely future policies of the Chinese state in the international realm, and explain their accumulated knowledge about the Chinese state in written examinations in an analytical and logical manner.
Require readings include four (4) books, E-library articles, and E-articles forwarded by the instructor in the final section of the course.
Books:
Duncan Clark, Alibaba, Harper Collins
Gideon Rachman, Easternization, Other Press
Tom Miller, China’s Asian Dream, Zed
Richard Mcgregor, Asia’s Reckoning, Viking/ Penguin
Course outline with reading assignments
I. (3 weeks)
The Market-oriented Economic Rise of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Its Challenges: Wealth and Power (energy, food, maritime territory), Ambitions (hegemony?), the Middle East
E-library, Morrison, China’s Economic Rise (one page)
Asia’s Reckoning, Ch. 1-5
Easternization, Introduction and Ch. 1
China’s Asian Dream, Ch.1, pp. 23-52
Alibaba, all
E-library: Lynch, “Economic Growth”
“Bannon Calls Out Chinese Regime
Trump on the Chinese Economy
“Can China Become a leader of innovation?”
The Middle East: Easternization, Ch. 9
E-library: Ehteshami et al., “China Iranian Mutual Strategic Perceptions”
II. (3 weeks):
Nationalism (one week): Territorial Claims (Taiwan, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Mongols, maritime Asia), Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Prospects for War
E-library: Zheng Wang, “Memory, Crises and Foreign Relations”
Yinghong Cheng, “Is Peking Man Still Our Ancestor …The Politics of Racial Nationalism…”
Kevin Carrio, “The Manchu in the Mirror”
Stephen Young, “Cross-Strait Relations…” (Taiwan)
Northeast Asia (one week)
“Debating North Korea”
Japan: RyoseiKokubun, “Sino-Japanese Relations…”
Chu Shulong, “Japan’s National Strategy and China’s Strategy towards Japan”
Shi Yinhong, “China-Japan Relations”
Zhu Feng, “Abe’s Shrine Visit vs. China-Japan Relations”
Edward Friedman, Book Reviw
China’s Asian Drram, Introduction
Easternization, Ch. 2 and 5
Asia’s Reckoning, Ch. 6-11 and 13-14.
Southeast Asia and the South (China) Sea (1 week)
Easternization, Ch. 3,4, and 6
China’s Asian Dream, Ch. 3, 4, and 6
Asia’s Reckoning, Ch. 12
E-library: Tran TroungThuy, “Tightrope Walking Over the Sea of Trouble”
6 Week Exam
III. South Asia (1 week)
Easternization, Ch. 7
China’s Asian Dream, Ch. 5
E-library: Alka Acharya, “Looking at the Big Picture in India-China Relations”
JayadevaRanade, “China supports Pakistan, defeats own counter terror efforts”
Kamran Bolchari, “For India and China, Southeast Asia is a Battleground”
IV. Russia, Cetnral Asia, Mongolia (1 ½ weeks)
China’s Asian Dream, Ch.2
Easternization, Ch. 11
E-library: Xing Guangcheng, “The Strategic Interests of China and Russia in Central Asia”
V. Africa and Latin America (1 week)
Easternization, Ch. 13
E-library: Friedman, “Courting the LDCs”
MatthieuDuchatel, “Into Africa”
“Can Ethiopia be Africa’s Leading manufacturing hub?”
Evan Ellis, “The Strategic Context of China’s Advance in Latin America”
VI. Europe (1/2 week)
E-library: Francois Godement and Abigail Vaisselier, “China at the Gates”
10 week exam
VII. Australian, the Pacific Islands, the Arctic and Antarctica (1 week)
E-library: “The West Faces Up to Reality”
Anne-Marie Brady, “China’s Expanding Antarctic Interests”
Cleo Paskel, “France dives back into the South Pacific”
VIII. Future Forecasts (4 weeks)
China Wins? China Muddles Through? War? Economic Implosion? Democratization?
Asia’s Reckoning, Ch. 15, Afterword, Preface, and Introduction
China’s Asian Dream, Conclusion
Easternization, Preface, Ch. 8 and 14, Conclusion
E-library: Allision, “Destined for War”
Friedman, “War or Peace in the Indo-Pacific?”
Suisheng Zhao, “China and the Evolving World Order”
Vanham, “How companies can win against China’s ‘carrots and sticks’’’
Victor David Hanson, “China’s New Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere”
Jeanne-Marie Gescher, “Chinas’ ‘new era’ presages a golden age or risks chaos”
E-articles from the Instructor
Final Exam
Please do not repeat data used in one answer in another answer
- Essay (45 minutes)
Synthesize IR theory with course data to forecast that the PRC will win and peacefully emerge as the sole global superpower.
II. Essay (45 minutes)
Synthesize IR theory with course data to forecast that the PRC will not win because its growth is unsustainable,and its policies and beliefs will alienate its neighbors and likely lead to a major power war.
III. Essay (30 minutes)
How and why was the enemy of the Chinese nation different for Sun Yat-sen in opposing the Qing monarchy for Mao Zedong in the years of his anti-revisionist fixation, for reform era Deng Xiaoping, and for today’s supreme leader, Xi Jinping. Your answer should include a discussion of changing orientations to Japan, Russia, America, and Taiwan.