From Lin Biao to Deng Xiaoping: Elite instability and China’s U.S. policy (1989)

In the field of Chinese foreign policy, the debate continues over the importance of domestic and international factors in policy-making. Scholars arguing in favor of the special importance of domestic politics in the formulation of policy point to the existence of elite differences over foreign policy and contend that the shifting fortunes of individual leaders and the leadership turnover associated with succession politics can significantly shape China’s security policy. Other scholars stress the importance of such international factors as shifting global balances of power, changing alliance patterns, and relative bargaining strengths in Beijing’s foreign policy.