Andrew J. Nathan: Domestic factors and Chinese Foreign Policy

Giri Deshingkar Memorial Lectures are instituted in the memory of Professor Giri Deshingkar, former Director of the CSDS and founder member of the Institute of Chinese Studies. Earlier speakers in the series include Professors Prasenjit Duara, Wang Gungwu, Tan Chung, Hamashita Takeshi, Ashwani Saith, Richard Appelbaum, Elizabeth Perry, Wang Hui and Shu-mei Shih.

The hard logic of China’s geostrategic vulnerability drives Chinese foreign policy. Neither nationalism, power struggles, nor interest group politics constrain the elite’s foreign policy decisions. The good news for India is that China’s goals are relatively easy to understand. The bad news is that China seeks more influence in South Asia.

Andrew J. Nathan is Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science at Columbia University.  He studies the politics and foreign policy of China, political participation and political culture in Asia, and the international human rights regime. He is the regular Asia and Pacific book reviewer for Foreign Affairs. Nathan’s books include Chinese Democracy (1985), The Tiananmen Papers (2001), China’s Search for Security (2012), and Will China Democratize? (2013). 

Wednesday, 13 January 2016
5 pm, CSDS Seminar Room