Quansheng Zhao, Great Power Strategies
The Asia-Pacific is as crucial as ever to America’s geopolitical future. Relations with China and Japan are among the most consequential of the United States’ relationships, standing at the forefront of many of today’s biggest geopolitical issues such as territorial disputes, trade, and technology competition.
Professor Quansheng Zhao’s Great Power Strategies – The United States, China and Japan provides a comparative study of the “Pacific Three” powers. While China is typically seen as the United States’ biggest competitor and Japan as one of the United States’ strongest allies, the lines are not always so clear, and China and Japan have their own complex history. Great Power Strategies analyzes the three countries’ past and present conflict and cooperation, and examines the evolution of each power’s strategic thinking. It evaluates their respective foreign policies and internal policy debates, stressing the importance of the interactions between internal and external factors in the policymaking process. Zhao highlights the role of strategic advisers in think tanks and government agencies in the U.S., Japan's informal and balanced policymaking process, and the impact of traditional culture in China, especially Confucianism.
Great Power Strategies will be an essential read for anyone looking to understand the changing dynamics of power politics in the Asia-Pacific, especially among the Pacific Three powers. Great Power Strategies was published in 2022 by Routledge Press.