Overview

China’s rise to superpower is seemingly a modern phenomenon, but it has a long history. This book follows China’s geopolitical transformation on the world stage, from struggling to defend herself against the British in the Opium Wars, to rivalling the United States for supremacy. What started as a response to Europe’s colonial influence has gradually become China’s quest to take a leading role on the word stage. But how did this happen? And what kind of actor is China as a global great power? The answers to these questions lie in how China has been shaped by its changing relationships with major world powers over the last two centuries. Arguing that a series of military defeats in the Opium Wars, Boxer Crisis and Japanese occupation led to a deep-rooted national sense of geopolitical vulnerability, van der Putten shows how this imbalance of power has resulted in Chinese distrust and uncertainty, even after it ceased to be prey to imperialist powers. Tracing China’s relations with other major powers over the last 185 years, China Resurrected shows how they have influenced the way in which China itself has become a leading power, and what this means for its relations with the West.

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9781350536593

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Reviews

Incisive, lucid and thought-provoking. This deftly written geopolitical history shows that today’s global politics cannot be understood without an informed reading of China’s past. An excellent read – highly recommended for anyone interested in international history, geopolitics and China’s place in a changing world. * Dr Vincent K.L. Chang, Associate Professor, Leiden University Institute for Area Studies, Netherlands *

[Van der Putten] gives readers a clear, thought-provoking account of how a once-weak empire became a global power. The book informs and provokes, even as it leaves major questions open. For anyone looking for a broad, readable history of China’s modern transformation, China Resurrected is a solid place to start. * Indian Public Policy Review * China is in every global conversation today. Frans Paul van der Putten has written a clear, comprehensive and thoughtful account of the past two centuries as China has rise to international prominence, useful for students and policymakers alike. * Rana Mitter, ST Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations, Harvard Kennedy School, USA * Incisive, lucid and thought-provoking. This deftly written geopolitical history shows that today’s global politics cannot be understood without an informed reading of China’s past. An excellent read – highly recommended for anyone interested in international history, geopolitics and China’s place in a changing world. * Vincent Chang, Assistant Professor, Leiden University Institute for Area Studies, Netherlands *

Author Information

Frans-Paul van der Putten is Senior Research Associate at the Clingendael Institute in The Hague, Netherlands, and Associate China Expert at the Leiden Asia Centre, Netherlands. The founder of ChinaGeopolitics, a research and consulting firm, he was previously Head of the China Centre at the Clingendael Institute, and chief editor of the Journal of Global and Imperial Interactions.

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