ABSTRACT
David C. Kang's China Rising addresses one of the most relevant issues in academic and political debate: China's emergence as an economic and military superpower, and the consequences of this for international relations. Kang asks whether China's rise will create instability and conflict in Asia, and ultimately undermine the current international order, or whether it will promote economic growth and a more stable international system. Optimists, mainly inspired by liberal theories, argue that both Western and Asian countries should take full advantage of the opportunity offered by China's exceptional rise. From a theoretical perspective, Kang argues in favor of a viable alternative to realism in order to better explain East Asian international relations. Theoretical debates in international relations between realists, liberals, and constructivists are particularly prominent on the subject of the rise of China, and disputes over how the world should respond have been continuous since the 1990s.
