IS 428 - US-China Relations

Lecture Hours: 3
Lab Hours: 0
Credit Hours: 3

The most consequential international relationship in the 21st century is, and will continue to be, that between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China. Understanding the nature of this relationship (whether it is cooperative, competitive, or something in between) is of the utmost importance, as is the complex and difficult task of explaining why the relationship is the way it is. This class is dedicated to both tasks. Cadets will examine Sino-American relations along different dimensions: military-security, regional-security and alliances, economic, domestic political, and grand strategic. In terms of its theoretical orientation, cadets will consider prominent realist, liberal, and constructivist explanations of Sino-American relations from 1949 to the present.