ABSTRACT
In particular, conceptions of the shifting nature of the global order and changing understandings of what China could and/or should try to achieve given these power shifts help the reader understand the directions that Chinese policy could take in the future. In the process, the changing nature of Chinese international interactions has blurred the dividing lines between IR and other forms of international scholarship. To be sure, overall, varieties of realism remain the most often used and referenced theoretical preference, but there is much more to Chinese scholarship than just realism. Today the Chinese IR community is engaged in truly serious studies and producing sophisticated arguments and viewpoints.
