DOES THE RISE OF CHINA SUPPORT OR REFUTE REALIST IR THEORY?

Roger Pallars Sastre Prof. Diego Muro International Relations Theory Blanquerna School of Communication and IR

Realism has been the leading IR theory in explaining how the international system of power is since the Cold War era. However, we are moving into a different stage with some specific facts that change our previous conception of world politics, amongst them the rise of China as a country which needs to be taken into account internationally. Realism claims to suit best in the explanation on how China fits and interacts in the international system of power. The aim of this essay is, by analyzing how a realist sees China in the current international system, conclude whether it can effectively explain this phenomenon or not. The first assumption that a realist would do is to place self-security in the top of a countrys priorities, so Chinas. Consequently, the main question for Chinese leaders would be: How to achieve a self-security situation? According to what Rosemary Foot suggests1: (China) accepts that the US military lead is so great that it will be surpassed either never or only in some far-distant future, China will not have enough military capacity to prevent any military attack of another country, because the menace of an American attack will always exist, according to realist approach. Then, how to seek for security? According to classic realists, by using other assets available: economic strength and regional cooperation. China is nowadays holding the 23% of US foreign debt2. This fact may be seen, for classic realists, as a measure of protecting the own state and national interest; while possessing that amount of US foreign debt, China is seen for the US as a major factor for its economic stability, so, consequently, deploying policies against China may be, at the end of the day, harmful for the US national interests. So, China has a stronger position in the international system of power by influencing the hegemon power, the US. Moreover, as Foot underlines, China is focusing in regional cooperation3, as it is the scale in which Beijing can be more influential as it can gave even more economic force, a valuable asset for classic realists. In doing so, they prevent the US gaining influence in

Foot, Rosemary (2006): Chinese strategies in a US-hegemonic global order: accommodating and hedging, International Affairs, Vol 82, No. 1, Page 89. 2 US Department of the Treasury, 2013: Major Foreign Holders Of Treasury Securities (in billions of dollars). (online). Available at http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chartcenter/tic/Documents/mfh.txt. Accessed 14 October 2013. 3 Foot, Rosemary (2006): Chinese strategies in a US-hegemonic global order: accommodating and hedging, International Affairs, Vol 82, No. 1, Pages 84-87.

the zone over them, so it becomes a zero-sum game: the more influence China has in Eastern Asia, the less the US has. In conclusion, classic realists, as stated in Kirchners article The tragedy of offensive realism: Classical realism and the rise of China4, claim that, in order to implement logical and efficient foreign policies, states should take into account which is the size of their power compared to the others, and the other way round. It seems clear that China is aware of that: they know that they may not be the hegemon, since, as stated before, they do not have the largest military power. However, realism successes in explain how, by deploying other assets available, China is nowadays one of the main superpowers in the world. As a consequence, we can affirm that the rise of China supports the realist theory.

Kirshner, Jonathan (2010): The tragedy of offensive realism: Classical realism and the rise of China, European Journal of International Relations, DOI: 10,177/1354066110373949. Pages 14-15.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Baylis, John; Smith, Steve; Owens, Patricia (2011): The Globalization of World Politics: An introduction to International Relations, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Pages 73-75, 84-96. Foot, Rosemary (2006): Chinese strategies in a US-hegemonic global order: accommodating and hedging, International Affairs, Vol 82, No. 1. pp 77-94. Kirshner, Jonathan (2010): The tragedy of offensive realism: Classical realism and the rise of China, European Journal of International Relations, DOI:

10,177/1354066110373949.