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Hegemony and revolution: An odyssey toward the Sino-American rapprochement, 1943--1972

Posted on:2008-04-24Degree:Ph.DType:Dissertation
University:The University of ChicagoCandidate:Wang, JingbinFull Text:PDF
GTID:1446390005457470Subject:History
Abstract/Summary:
This dissertation seeks to reexamine three decades of relations between the United States and Mao's China with a view to throwing new light on the causes of the Sino-American rapprochement in 1971-72 in the larger context of the global confrontation between liberalism and communism. I approach the issue between these two states as one of "diplomatic recognition." I am concerned with the question of why a hegemonic great power chose to move toward recognition of a revolutionary state later rather than earlier while the revolutionary state opposed what it viewed as the arch imperialist power and desired its recognition at the same time.;Much has been written about the worldwide struggle between liberal democracy and communism, but from the American vantage point. This dissertation adopts a world-historical approach, anchoring the two traditions in efforts to reform and revolutionize the nation-state system with emphasis on their effects on bilateral diplomatic relations.;Similarly, it is recognized that the United States had long refused to recognize the Beijing government, and it was China's state policy to establish diplomatic relations with all other countries in the world, including the United States. Yet these two facts have been obscured by the general tendency to subsume "diplomatic recognition" under an ideological or a strategic perspective. I address "diplomatic recognition" in its own right and consider the U.S. and Chinese recognition policies together within one conceptual framework informed by the liberal and the Marxist-Leninist traditions.;This study does not downplay strategic calculations either in Washington or in Beijing. On the contrary, I hope to demonstrate that the United States had consistently adopted a strategic approach to China from confrontation to rapprochement, but from a liberal standpoint. Power mattered, but realism was not relevant. Much the same could be said of China, including the Soviet Union. The "strategic triangle" was real, but beyond the purview of realism.
Keywords/Search Tags:United states, China, Rapprochement, Strategic
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