ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the theoretical framework of a neoclassical realist approach to understanding the People’s Republic of China's international political behavior. It explains the rationale for adopting neoclassical realism rather than structural realism or constructivism, through historical and contemporary analysis of traditional Chinese international political behavior. The chapter examines the contemporary international system. China's international political prominence has become a natural feature of world politics. China's rise in the international system in the post-Cold War era has been both rapid and multidimensional, moving it from the periphery to the core in two decades. China and the Gulf Cooperation Council are in the process of becoming very important to each other. From the perspective of domestic drivers of the relations, energy is obviously a key element of the relationship for China. Discussing both the historical and contemporary Chinese approach to international politics, the chapter concludes that neither a constructivist nor a structural realist theoretical framework can adequately explain the PRC's foreign policy.
