China's emergence and the balance of power

Document from the year 2018 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Far East, , language: English, abstract: The global political system resulting from the end of the Cold War, which consecrated the implosion of the Soviet Union at the turn of the 1990s, remains marked with the American superpower. China, which has naturally always been a great nation in the international system, is on a steady and tremendous growth, a development process which is leading to a dramatic change in the global power distribution and the positioning of China as a potential contender of the U.S. the world affairs.

While China needs to pursue its economic, security and political goals, it must also deal with the security dilemma induced by its emergence as a great power. This study discusses how China pursues its rise with the constraint of the American dominance of the international system. Essentially a theoretical undertaking, this thesis proposes an analysis of Chinäs emergence from the assumptions of offensive realism developed by John J. Mearsheimer.

It results from this analysis that China appears to follow a strategy that combines three complementary dimensions: on the internal level, economic and military reforms; and externally, an assertive and effective diplomacy in line with its strategic goals. Such an approach is innovative in the sense that it aims to raise the national and international profile of China through mainly economic power rather than military.