Yongjin Zhang

System, empire and state in Chinese international relations

Two criticisms have long been directed at the theorization of international relations (IR): ahistoricism and Eurocentrism. Westphalia, it is argued, has been so stigmatized that it has become synonymous with the beginning as well as the end of what we understand as international relations. Rationalist theorizing in general, of both the neorealist and neoliberal persuasions, has produced a set of deductive theories that aim and claim to transcend history.

China and the emerging regional order in the South Pacific

As China rises, it has become increasingly aggressive in applying its soft power in the Pacific. What does Chinas arrival mean for the emerging regional order in the Pacific? What is it up to in the strategic backwater of the Pacific, which has traditionally been regarded as an ‘American lake’ and Australias ‘special patch’? Setting my analysis in the broad context of Chinas new global diplomacy, I argue that the pattern of Chinas assertive behaviour in the Pacific is no different from its approach to other regions in the global South. I further argue that with only limited strategic, diplomatic and economic investment in the Pacific, China has become a regional power by default. The arrival of China, therefore, is unlikely to provoke any new round of great power competition. Rather, it offers opportunities for the worlds second most formidable development challenge.

China and liberal hierarchies in global international society: power and negotiation for normative change

This article investigates the entanglement of the rising Chinese power with the liberal global order in negotiating for normative change. Drawing upon the English School theoretical perspective, it argues that three hierarchical constructs of liberal persuasion co-exist in and cohabit the global international society today. They are, namely, the legalized hegemony as seen in the UN Charter-based liberal pluralism; the changing normative order of emerging solidarist and anti-pluralist formation that purposively creates unequal sovereigns; and the liberal global governance order that moves predominantly in the direction of state-centric solidarism. As an emerging power with an authoritarian regime, Chinas entanglement with these liberal hierarchical constructs is multifaceted with complex dynamics. The article argues specifically that three differentiated strategic approaches have been developed by China in this entanglement: to defend liberal pluralism in the legalized hegemony; to contest liberal cosmopolitan anti-pluralism in the changing normative order; and to endorse state-centric solidarism with regard to the construction of a liberal global governance order. If they reflect a rising Chinas preferences of order construction, they also constitute an important part of Chinas engaging negotiations for normative change in international society. The agency China exercises in this regard helps explain the limited consensus among Great Powers as to the ‘central direction’ for the evolving global order. The preferences of China as the second among equals in the Great Power club matter greatly in understanding the contention between pluralism and solidarism in the changing raison de systeme of contemporary global international society.

The idea of order in ancient Chinese political thought: a Wightian exploration

Is there any significant international thought in antiquity beyond the West? If there is, why has there as yet been no meaningful conversation between the expanding enterprise of theorizing International Relations (IR) today and ancient Chinese political thought? This extended version of my Martin Wight Memorial Lecture addresses these questions through a critical exploration of how a pivotal idea in ancient as well as contemporary international relations, namely, the idea of order, is deliberated in ancient Chinese political thought. Inspired by Martin Wights profound scholarship so steeped in historical and philosophical depth, it investigates why and how alternative visions of moral, social and political order are imagined, offered and debated in ancient Chinese philosophical discourse. It examines the ways in which the moral and political pursuit of order as a social ideal is conducted in the anarchical society of states in ancient China. Through these historical and philosophical investigations, this article seeks to establish that ancient Chinese political and philosophical deliberations are rich in international thought and that classical thinkers in Chinas Axial Age are alive to us and contemporaneous with us philosophically as much as ancient Greek philosophers are. In establishing such a claim, the article calls for, and issues an invitation to, a conversation between the world of thought in ancient China and the theorization of IR as an intellectual ritual in search of a truly international theory.

Problematizing China's Security: Sociological Insights

This essay makes problematic Chinas security concerns by looking at three of the most penetrating and pervasive social experiences in China since 1949: revolution, war, and reform. It argues that these three social processes, interacting with the same processes in international society, have made a special set of social relationships between China and international society. Chinas understanding of its identity and the Other, as well as the collective identity constructed vis-à-vis China, contributes significantly to Chinas insecurity complex.

Regional International Society in East Asia?: A Critical Investigation

This essay conducts a critical investigation of the existence or not of international society at the regional level in East Asia as a critique of the excessive universalism of the existing English School theorization of international society. Through a purposeful engagement with the English School theory, it looks at how primary institutions of the Westphalian society of states such as sovereignty and the imperialism are historically imposed upon and resisted by East Asian states in dismantling the traditional regional order. It considers the way in which East Asian states creatively accept, interpret, engage in and practise certain primary institutions of Western-global international society, sovereignty and the market in particular, on their own terms in the postcolonial context. Variations in interpretation and practice of these two primary institutions, it argues, amount to East Asian regional contestations to Western-global international society through localization of norms. It also examines the pec...

The Standard of ‘Civilisation’ Redux: Towards the Expansion of International Society 3.0?:

This article interrogates the recent return of the discourse of the standard of ‘civilisation’ in international relations. Looking at the expansion of international society as an ongoing civilising project, it examines three important macro societal transformations of the international from a grand historical perspective. The classical civilising project, it argues, gives a particularistic interpretation and a truncated meaning to civilisation in international relations, while creating a pluralistic and functional order populated by Westphalian states. The globalisation of the modern sovereign order in the mid-20th century is equally a civilising project, as it redefines legitimate statehood and rightful membership in the making of a post-colonial international society. The current attempts at embedding democracy and human rights in the normative fabric of global international society, contentious and contested as they are, are an integral story of the expansion of international society 3.0, which is marked by a significantly expanded normative scope for making collective judgements of legitimate statehood and rightful state action. In bringing the expansion story up to date and giving it a hermeneutically different reading, the article suggests that as global international society resides in a multi-civilisational world, the civilising project as a form of inter-civilisational communicative actions will always have its place in the evolution of international society.

The English School in retrospect and prospect: Barry Buzan’s An Introduction to the English School of International Relations: The Societal Approach:

Over the last few decades the English School (ES) has not only emerged, but has been acknowledged as a distinctive approach to the study of International Relations (IR). It is routinely listed in textbooks and disciplinary surveys as one of IR’s primary modes of inquiry, attracting interest and adherents in many parts of the world. This state of affairs is attributable to the work of a number of people, but especially to that of Barry Buzan. More than ‘reconvening’ the school, a metaphor misleading in some ways, Buzan has led, pushed and challenged his colleagues to better clarify and define their ideas, concepts and theories, as well as to put the ES on a much sounder organizational footing. Buzan’s (2014) latest book builds on his previous volume (Buzan, 2004a) to provide an introduction for readers new to the school. However, it does much more than this, providing a ‘state of the debate’ on such demanding matters as the expansion of international society, and the pluralist–solidarist divide. It also links present research efforts to the classics, putting into perspective and defining the school’s current research agenda for the next phase of its development. It has the potential to become a landmark work on a par with the classic work of the early ES, Hedley Bull’s The Anarchical Society. But how does Buzan’s research agenda respond to the requirements of an increasingly diverse and fragmenting discipline? Are his preferred analytical concepts and categories sound? Of what pitfalls should newcomers to the school be aware? In this symposium five established scholars, closely associated with the ES, seek to answer these questions, and in dialogue with Buzan, further advance our understanding of the school’s ‘societal’ approach and its potential for deepening our understanding of what at times appears a highly unsocial world. The approach of the section is ‘internal’ as opposed to ‘external’ critique. External critiques of the ES are well known (see, e.g., Finnemore, 2001). The section proceeds on the assumption that at this stage of its development the school’s approach can be most effectively advanced by vigorous debate between those who share the same broad research agenda with little purpose being served by reiterating the already well-known ‘external’ objections. The section is based on a roundtable discussion held at the EISA conference, Warsaw, September 2013, in which Zhang, Wilson, Navari and Buzan took part. I am 610595 CAC0010.1177/0010836715610595Cooperation and ConflictWilson review-article2015This outstanding book is the first comprehensive introduction to the English School of International Relations. Written by leading ES scholar Barry Buzan, it expertly guides readers through the English School’s formative ideas, intellectual and historical roots, current controversies and future avenues of development. Part One sets out the English School’s origins and development, explaining its central concepts and methodological tools, and placing it within the broader canon of IR theory. Part Two offers a detailed account of the historical, regional and social structural strands of the English School, explaining the important link between the school’s historical projects and its interest in a societal approach to international relations. Part Three explores the School’s responses to the enduring problems of order and justice, and highlights the changing balance between pluralist and solidarist institutions in the evolution of international society over the past five centuries. The book concludes with a discussion of the English School’s ongoing controversies and debates, and identifies opportunities for further research. For students new to the topic this book will provide an accessible and balanced overview, whilst those already familiar with the ES will be prompted to look afresh at their own understanding of its significance and potentiality.

Regions in International Society

Publikace se zabýva anglickou skolou mezinarodnich vztahů a jejim pohledem na regiony v mezinarodni spolecnost. Až donedavna anglicka skola ignorovala regionalni uroveň analýzy mezinarodni spolecnosti. Jednoduse chapala mezinarodni spolecnost jako globalně homogenni. Tato publikace se snaži (1) poukazat na nedostatecnost takoveho pohledu zejmena ve srovnani se soucasným stavem mezinarodni politiky; (2) rozvinout tema regionů v ramci anglicke skoly; (3) poskytnout empirickou analýzu regionů (konkretně východni Asie, Jižni Amerika a středni Asie), ktere doposud nebyly přilis zkoumany z pohledu „regionalni perspektivy“ anglicke skoly.

Early Cultural Orientations and Ancient International Thought

A short commentary on Martin Wight’s ‘The Disunity of Mankind’, a short and unfinished piece in which Wight focuses almost exclusively on the Western tradition of thought, from Plato and Aristotle, to the Stoics and to Augustine.