Type of Credit: Elective
Credit(s)
Number of Students
This graduate seminar, intended primarily for students in the IDAS and IMAS programs, will examine the role of individual leaders in shaping American and Chinese policy toward each other from the Communist Revolution to the present. It will be organized around some of the most important episodes and decisions during that period, including the victory of the Communist Party in the Chinese Revolution and the American responses to it, the US decisions to defend South Korea and then invade and “liberate” the North, and then the Chinese decision to prevent the defeat of North Korea by the United States, the US policies to “isolate” and “contain” China and to defend Taiwan against attacks from the mainland, the efforts by both Chinese and American leaders to normalize their relations in the 1970s, the effects of the June 1989 Tiananmen Crisis on the two countries’ relationship, the agreement by Bill Clinton and Jiang Zemin to build toward a “constructive strategic partnership, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson’s and Vice-Premier Wu Yi’s design of a Strategic Economic Dialogue to manage the looming economic issues between the two countries, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s decision to “rebalance” American security policy to deal with an increasingly assertive China under Xi Jinping, and Donald Trump’s and Joe Biden’s declarations that China had become a “strategic competitor” of the US rather than a potential “strategic partner.” We will also examine some of the advisers and assistants to these better-known leaders, and examples of “thought leadership,” where individuals either inside or outside government tried to shape the decisions of official decision-makers or influence the thinking of the broader policy community.
能力項目說明
For each episode, we will analyze the domestic and foreign factors that shaped the leaders’ perceptions and decisions, as well as the personalities, experiences, biases, and skills, that they brought to the challenges and opportunities they faced. The readings in the course will draw on histories of the episodes in question and biographies and autobiographies of the leaders involved. The seminar will conclude with a consideration of the lessons we can draw about both successful and ineffective leadership in designing, adopting, and implementing foreign policy as well as the founders and leaders of important non-governmental organizations, from university programs to think tanks to exchange organizations, that have played an important role in the evolving U. S.- China relationship.
This course has no prerequisites. But for those unfamiliar with the history of U.S.- China relations, here are some useful background readings on that subject. Some students may also find these to be useful resources for their turn papers:
Warren I. Cohen, America’s Response to China
John Pomfret, The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom: America and China, 1776 to the Present
Gordon H. Chang, Fateful Ties: A History of America’s Preoccupation with China
James Mann, About Face: A History of America's Curious Relationship with China
| 教學週次Course Week | 彈性補充教學週次Flexible Supplemental Instruction Week | 彈性補充教學類別Flexible Supplemental Instruction Type |
|---|---|---|
Class Schedule
September 13th: No class because of instructor’s travel.
1. September 20th: Orientation and introductions
Required video
Nye, Joseph, “Presidents and the transformation of American foreign policy in the twentieth century,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyfWWdlWN3w
David Shambaugh, China's Leaders from Mao to Now, ch. 1.
Required readings
Jean-Frédéric Morin and Jonathan Paquin, “Do Decision-Makers Matter?” in Morin and Paquin, Foreign Policy Analysis, ch. 3.
Hermann, Margaret G. and Joe D. Hagan, “International decision Making: Leadership matters.”
Richard Aldous, “America’s Cold Warrior’ Review: The Legacy of Paul Nitze. Yeah
Recommended readings
Richard N. Haass, “The Bureaucratic Entrepreneur: How to Be Effective in Any Unruly Organization”.
Margaret G. Hermann, "Explaining Foreign Policy Behavior Using the Personal Characteristics of Political Leaders."
Ivo H. Daalder and I. M. Destler, “How National Security Advisers See their Role.”
Fred I. Greenstein and Richard H. Immerman, “Effective National Security Advising: Recovering the Eisenhower Legacy.”
Jonathan, Masters, “The U.S. Vice President and foreign policy.”
2. September 27th: Mao, Chiang, Hurley, and Marshall; Truman and Acheson: “Letting the Dust Settle “ After a Failed Mediation in a Revolutionary Civil War
Required readings
Jonathan Fenby, Chiang Kai Shek: China’s Generalissimo and The Nation He Lost, chs. 25-26.
Kevin Peraino, A Force So Swift: Mao, Truman, and the Birth of Modern China, 1949, chs. 23-24. in Tao Wenzhao, A Brief History of U.S. Relations, 1784-2013, “Foreword” and chs. 5-6.
Recommended readings and video
Barbara Tuchman, Stilwell and the American Experience in China.
Beisner, Robert, Dean Acheson: A life in the Cold War, Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2006, chs. 10, 11 and 16.
Christensen, Thomas, Useful Adversaries: Grand Strategy, Domestic Mobilization, and Sino-American Conflict, 1947-1958, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996, ch. 4
Mao, Tse-tung, “Farewell, Leighton Stuart!” August 18, 1949.
“Patrick J. Hurley, the Conciliators from US to China,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIG5vKl4-I4
3. October 4th: Mao, Truman and MacArthur: Defending South Korea, Attacking North Korea, and “Neutralizing” Taiwan
Required readings
Christensen, Useful Adversaries, chs. 5-6.
Truman, Harry S., Memoirs of Harry S. Truman: 1946-52, Years of Trial and Hope, New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press, 1987, chs. 22, 23 and 25.
Alexander Pantsov and Steven Levine, Mao: the Real Story, chs. 24-25.
Robert Gilbert, “Douglas MacArthur: Disordered Narcissist”
Tao, A Brief History of U.S. Relations, 1784-2013, ch. 7.
Recommended readings
Brands, H.W., The General vs. the President: MacArthur and Truman at the Brink of Nuclear War.
William Manchester, , American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880 – 1964, ch. 9
Glenn D. Paige, ., The Korean Decision, June 24-30, 1950.
4. October 11th: Mao, Chiang, Eisenhower and Dulles: Defending Taiwan while Restraining Chiang Kai-shek
Required readings
Nancy Bernkopf Tucker, The China Threat: Memories, Myths, and Realities in the 1950s, chs. 1-2.
Evans, Paul M., “The long way home: John Fairbank and American China policy 1941–72.”
Green, Marshall, “Working with Dulles: An Insider's Account of the Taiwan Straits Crisis,” Foreign Service Journal 1989 May, 43-46.
Hitchcock, William I., The Age of Eisenhower: America and the World in the 1950s, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2018, chs. 8 -9.
Pantsov and Levine, Mao, ch. 30
Taylor, The Generalissimo’s Son, ch. 14, “Managing The Great Patron.”
Recommended video
Paul M. Evans, “Fairbank and the Fifties” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf6bB8Fz-cM
Recommended readings
Stephen J. Hartnett, “Avoiding ‘A Chain Reaction of Disaster’: A Reappraisal of the Eisenhower White House’s Handling of the 1954–1955 Quemoy Crisis.”
Charles King, “The Fulbright Paradox: Race and the Road to a New American Internationalism.”
Tucker, Nancy Bernkopf, “John Foster Dulles and the Taiwan Roots of the Two China Policy.”
5. October 18th: Mao, Zhou, Lin Biao, Nixon, and Kissinger: From Isolation to Détente
Required readings
Bruce Mazlish, “Toward a Psychohistorical Inquiry: The ‘Real’ Richard Nixon”
Henry Kissinger, On China, ch. 8.
Walter Isaacson, Kissinger: A Biography, ch. 16.
Nancy Bernkopf Tucker, , “Taiwan expendable? Nixon and Kissinger Go to China.”
Pantsov and Levine, Mao, chs. 35- 36.
Gao Wenqian, Zhou Enlai: The Last Perfect Revolutionary ., chs. 13, 15, and 16, and Epilogue.
Orville Schell, review of Zhou Enlai: A life, by Chen Jian.
Recommended readings
James Mann, About Face: A History of America's Curious Relationship with China, chs.1-2.
Harry Harding, A Fragile Relationship: The United States and China since 1972, , ch. 2
Gao Wenqian, Zhou Enlai, remainder. One people
Chen Jian, Zhou Enlai: A Life.
6. October 25h: Deng, Carter, Vance, and Brzezinski: Achieving Normal Relations with China
Required readings
Ezra Vogel, Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China, chs. 11 and 17.
Jay Taylor, The Generalissimo’s Son, ch. 20.
ZbigniewBrzezinski, Power and Principle: Memoirs of the National Security Adviser, 1977-1981, chs. 6 and 11.
7. November 1st: Reagan, Chiang Ching-kuo, and Schultz: Adjusting the Residual Relationship with Taiwan
Required readings
Mann, The Vulcans, ch. 14.
Taylor, The Generalissimo’s Son, ch. ch. 22.
John W. Sloan, “Meeting the Leadership Challenges of the Modern Presidency: The Political Skills and Leadership of Ronald Reagan.”
Lawrence Eagleburger, “Declassified cables: Taiwan arms sales.”
Harvey Feldman, “President Reagan’s Six Assurances to Taiwan and their meaning today,” The Heritage Foundation, October 2, 2007.
Shultz, George P., Turmoil and Triumph: My Years as Secretary of State, ch. 3 (How I Think”, ch. 22 “China: Dealing Across Ideologies,” and section on “Understanding Ronald Reagan” in ch. 51,
Recommended readings
Isaacson, Kissinger, ch. 22, “Citizen Kissinger, and ch. 33, “Kissinger Associates: How the World's Most Famous Consultant Struck It Rich."
Michel C. Oksenberg, “A decade of Sino-American Relations.” Foreign Affairs 61, no. 1 (1982): 175-195.
Joanne Jaw-ling Chang, “Negotiation of the 17 August 1982 US-PRC Arms Communique: Beijing's Negotiating Tactics.”
Harding, A Fragile Relationship, ch. 3
8. November 8th: Deng, George H.W. Bush and Scowcroft: Ending the Cold War and Responding to June 4
Required readings
Mann, The Vulcans, ch. 13,
Alexander Pantsov and Steven Levine, Deng Xiaoping, ch. 23.
Ezra Vogel, Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China, chs. 20-22.
Harding, A Fragile Relationship, chs. 7-8.
David Skidmore and William Gates. “After Tiananmen: The struggle Over US Policy Toward China in the Bush Administration.”
David Lampton, Living U.S.-China Relations, chs. 8-9.
Recommended readings
Jon Meacham, Jon, Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush,ch. 32.
Zhao Ziyang, Prisoner of the State.
9. November15th: Clinton and Jiang: the threat to Link China’s Most Favored Nation Status to Improvements in its Human Rights Record
NO REACTION PAPERS REQUIRED, BUT TERM PAPER PROPOSALS DUE
Required readings
Lampton, David, “America's China policy in The Age of the Finance minister: Clinton Ends Linkage.”
Recommended readings
Willy Wo-lap Lam, The Era of Jiang Zemin.
Harding, A Fragile Relationship, chs. 7-8.
John F. Harris, The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House.
10. November 22nd: Lord: Building a “New Pacific Community” and Reviewing Policy toward a Democratic Taiwan
Required readings
Jay Taylor, The Generalissimo's Son: Chiang Ching-kuo and the Revolutions in China and Taiwan, ch.25.
Winston Lord, “Taiwan Policy Review,” Statement before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Washington, DC, September 27, 1994.
Nancy Bernkopf Tucker (ed.), China Confidential: American Diplomats and Sino-American Relations, pp. 456-73 and 482-86.
Winston Lord, “Confirmation Hearing,” Statement before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, March 31, 1993.
Robert A., Manning and Paula Stern, “The Myth of the Pacific Community.”
11. November 29th: Jiang, Clinton, Christopher, Albright and Holbrooke: Recasting China from Pariah to “Constructive Strategic partner”
Required readings
Shambaugh, China's Leaders from Mao to Now, ch. 4.
Warren Christopher, In the Stream of History: Shaping Foreign Policy for a New Era, chs. 10, 29, and 35.
John Otis, “Madeleine Albright, First Female Secretary of State, Dies at 84.”
Kushner, Adam, “Richard Holbrooke was a jerk -- and a talented diplomat. Which matters more?”
Tao Wenzhao, A Brief History of U.S. Relations, 1784-2013, ch. 10
Recommended readings
George Packer, Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century.
James Mann, The Obamians: The Struggle Inside the White House to Redefine American Power, ch. 16
12. December 6th: George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice: Redefining China from Strategic Partner to “Strategic Competitor”
Required readings
James Mann, Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush’s War Cabinet, ch. 17, “Who Runs the Pentagon?” and ch. 18, “Warnings and Signs.”
Rice, Condoleezza, "Promoting The National Interest."
John P. Burke, “The Contemporary Presidency: Condoleezza Rice as NSC Advisor: A Case Study of the Honest Broker Role.”
Jane Perlez, “When America and China Collided: Why the Countries Are Dangerously
Unprepared for a Repeat of the 2001 Crisis.”
Recommended readings
Glenn Kessler, the Confidante: Condoleezza Rice and the Creation Of The Bush Legacy.
13. December 13th : Henry Paulson and Wu Yi: Managing Economic Issues through the Strategic Economic Dialogue
Required readings
Thomas Christensen, The China Challenge: Shaping the Choices of a Rising Power, Prologue.
Henry Paulson, Dealing with China: An Insider Unmasks the New Economic Superpower, chs. 11-14
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Yi_(politician)
Recommended readings
Fred Bergsten, “A Partnership of Equals: How Washington Should Respond to China's Economic Challenge.”
Fred Bergsten, “Two’s Company.”
Robert Zoellick, “Whither China: From membership to responsibility.”
14. December 20th: Xi, Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Kurt Campbell: As China becomes more assertive, America Pivots to Asia
Required readings
Shambaugh, China's Leaders from Mao to Now, ch. 6.
Mann, The Obamians: , ch. 13.
Jeffrey Goldberg, “The Obama Doctrine,” The Atlantic, April 2016.
Edward Klein, The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House, “Part IV: The Obama Doctrine.”
Thomas J. Christensen, “Obama and Asia: Confronting the China Challenge”
Michael Hirsh, “The Clinton Legacy: How Will History Judge the Soft-Power Secretary of State?”
Recommended reading
Jeffrey A. Bader, Obama and China's Rise: An Insider's Account of America's Asia, chs. 3, 6, 7, and 11.
Kurt Campbell, Kurt, The Pivot: The Future of American Statecraft in Asia, New York: chs. 1 and 5.
Mann, The Obamians , Conclusion,
Suisheng Zhao, "Shaping the regional context of China's rise: how the Obama administration brought back hedge in its engagement with China."
15. December 27th: Thought Leaders and the Growing Debate over China Policy
Michael Mintrom, “So you want to be a policy entrepreneur?”
Richard Aldous, “Review of James Graham Wilson, America’s Cold Warrior: The Legacy of Paul Nitze.”
Harry Harding, “Has US China policy failed?”
James Mann, , The China Fantasy: Why Capitalism Will Not Bring Democracy to China, Introduction and ch. 1.
Recommended reading
Doder, Dusko, “Michael Pillsbury,”
Annie Lowrey, Annie, “The ‘mad man’ behind Trump’s trade theory,” [on Peter Navarro]
Robert D. Blackwill, and Ashley J. Tellis, Revising U.S. Grand Strategy toward China.
Lyle J. Goldstein, Meeting China Halfway: How to Defuse the Emerging US-China Rivalry, chs. 1, 12
Hugh White, Hugh, The China Choice: Why Should We Share Power with China, ch. 10 .
16. January 3rd: Donald Trump and His Advisers: China as a “Rival Power” in a Competitive Global Arena
Required readings, podcasts, and video
Anton Ashcroft, “Donald Trump: Narcissist, Psychopath Or Representative of the People?”
Alessandro Nai et al., “Donald Trump, Populism, and the Age of Extremes: Comparing the Personality Traits and Campaigning Styles of Trump and Other Leaders Worldwide.”
Glasser, Susan, “Secretary of Trump,” [on Mike Pompeo]
Andrew Restuccia and Megan Cassella, “‘Ideological soul mates’: How a China skeptic sold Trump on a trade war,” Politico, December 26, 2018. [on Robert Lighthizer]
David Nakamura, et al., “Matthew Pottinger faced Chinese Communist intimidation as a reporter. He’s now at the White House.”
Recommended readings and video
Robert Lighthizer, No Trade is Free: Changing Course, Taking on China.
Bob Davis and Lingling Wei, Superpower Showdown.
Maggie Haberman, Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and The Breaking of
America.
Michael Nelson, Trump: The First Two Years.
“A Message from Deputy National Security Advisor Matt Pottinger,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp5h6n6fbUg
H.R. McMaster, H.R. and Gary D. Cohn, “America first doesn’t mean America alone.”
Hal Brands, Hal, “America’s cold warriors hold the key to handling China.”
Michael R. Pompeo, “Communist China and the free world’s future,” July 23, 2020.
Anonymous [most likely Miles Yu Maochun], “The Longer Telegram: Toward a New American China Strategy,” Executive Summary
Koon, Wee Kek, “‘Traitors’ to China, past and present – stories of those who served enemy states” [on Miles Yu Maochun].
17. January 10th: Biden, Blinken, and Sullivan: Reducing Tensions or Doubling Down?
Required readings
Jiachen Shi, “the China Policy Gap Between Biden and Trump Is Bigger Than You Think.”
Elise Labott, “The Sullivan Model.”
“Remarks and Q&A by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on the Future of U.S.-China Relations.”
“White House Briefing Room Fact Sheet: President Biden Takes Action to Protect American Workers and Businesses from China's Unfair Trade Practices.” US security policy to China
Recommended reading
18. January 17th: Lessons on Success and Failure in Foreign Policy Leadership
Required readings and video
Joseph Nye, “Ethics and good leadership in foreign policy” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9dCC_0ed0o
Shambaugh, China's leaders from Mao to Now, ch. 7
Recommended reading
Robert E. Shapiro, “Book Review: Resignation in Protest, by Edward Weisband & Thomas M. Franck.”
“ Sir Collin Tukuitonga resigns from NZ [New Zealand] government roles, citing “no confidence… in the government” https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/504474/sir-collin-tukuitonga-resigns-from-nz-government-roles-citing-no-confidence
Lind, Michael, “Are academics pursuing a cult of the irrelevant?”
Course Requirements
Students are expected to attend each class session and to participate actively in the seminar discussions. In addition, by midnight two days before each class session (normally Wednesday night), they should write a short (one page, or around 250 words) question or conclusion based on the required readings for the class and post it on the appropriate forum on the course website on Moodle. Class attendance and participation, and the submission of these “reaction papers” and their presentation in class will count for one-third of the course grade.
Students will also be required to write a 2,000-4,000-word term paper on either
(1) one of the most important episodes in US-China relations since 1945, providing a critical assessment of one or more of the leaders involved, or
(2) one of the Chinese or American leaders you find most interesting in shaping the US-China relationship.
If you choose the first option (an episode), your paper should identify the leader(s) who played significant roles in the episode, the dimensions along which you believe acts of leadership are most usefully evaluated, and whether the episode illustrates successful leadership, unsuccessful leadership, or a blend of the two. You should also analyze the personal and contextual factors that contributed to that outcome.
If you choose the second topic (a leader), you should explain why you believe the leader you have chosen played a significant (although not necessarily well-known) role in US-China relations, assess their strengths and weaknesses as a leader, and trace those strengths and weaknesses to their personalities, personal experiences, and leadership skills. The topic of the paper can be one of the leaders discussed in class or another of your own choosing.
Either way, a brief statement of the topic, identifying the event or the leader you plan to analyze and the sources on which you plan to draw, will be due on November 8. The paper itself will be due toward the end of the semester at a date to be announced, and will account for two-thirds of the course grade. While the papers can draw on the assigned readings in the course, students are expected to do additional research. The recommended readings in the syllabus are a good place to start. In addition, wow you can base your research entirely on secondary sources, if you are interested in using the primary sources available through the Miller Center’s oral history project (https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-oral-histories) and the declassified materials acquired by the National Security Archive at George Washington University through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. See (https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/guide-researchers). If you are able to use Chinese language sources, either primary or secondary, you are welcome to do so, if your Chinese language skills are up to the task.