Scott L. Kastner, Margaret M. Pearson, and Chad Rector. China’s Strategic Multilateralism: Investing in Global Governance

Excerpt

Beijing’s political leaders have considered their county’s institutional involvement in multilateral regimes as an essential part of its foreign policy strategy. Not only has China played an active role in almost all multilateral organizations in the Asia Pacific, but also increasingly participated in a variety of international regimes. Against this backdrop, China’s compliance with contemporary international relations norms, the strategic motives behind its involvement in many multilateral regimes, and its contributions to global governance on various global issues are questions that have drawn close attention in recent years. A growing number of scholars have provided theoretical reflections, historical studies, and empirical examinations on how China’s growing national power is enabling Beijing’s political leaders to develop and execute foreign policy strategies based on their own distinct worldviews on the complexity of post-Cold War international relations. Among them, Kastner and colleagues’ well-researched and well-written book—China’s Strategic Multilateralism: Investing in Global Governance—makes a good contribution to the debate on China’s approach to multilateral regimes. …