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The Princeton-China Series
Leadership and the Rise of Great Powers
A leading foreign policy thinker uses Chinese political theory to explain why some powers rise as others decline and what this means for the international order
While work in international relations has closely examined the decline of great powers, not much attention has been paid to the question of their rise. The upward trajectory of China is a particularly puzzling case. How has it grown increasingly important in the world arena while lagging behind the United States and its allies across certain sectors? Borrowing ideas of political determinism from ancient Chinese philosophers, Leadership and the Rise of Great Powers explains China’s expanding influence by presenting a moral-realist theory that attributes the rise and fall of nations to political leadership. Yan Xuetong shows that the stronger a rising state’s political leadership, the more likely it is to displace a prevailing state in the international system.
Yan defines political leadership through the lens of morality, specifically the ability of a government to fulfill its domestic responsibility and maintain international strategic credibility. Examining leadership at the personal, national, and international levels, Yan shows how rising states like China transform the international order by reshaping power distribution and norms. Yan also considers the reasons for America’s diminishing international stature even as its economy, education system, military, political institutions, and technology hold steady. The polarization of China and the United States will not result in another Cold War scenario, but their mutual distrust will ultimately drive the world center from Europe to East Asia.
Using the lens of classical Chinese political theory, Leadership and the Rise of Great Powers offers a provocative, alternative perspective on the changing dominance of nations on the global stage.
While work in international relations has closely examined the decline of great powers, not much attention has been paid to the question of their rise. The upward trajectory of China is a particularly puzzling case. How has it grown increasingly important in the world arena while lagging behind the United States and its allies across certain sectors? Borrowing ideas of political determinism from ancient Chinese philosophers, Leadership and the Rise of Great Powers explains China’s expanding influence by presenting a moral-realist theory that attributes the rise and fall of nations to political leadership. Yan Xuetong shows that the stronger a rising state’s political leadership, the more likely it is to displace a prevailing state in the international system.
Yan defines political leadership through the lens of morality, specifically the ability of a government to fulfill its domestic responsibility and maintain international strategic credibility. Examining leadership at the personal, national, and international levels, Yan shows how rising states like China transform the international order by reshaping power distribution and norms. Yan also considers the reasons for America’s diminishing international stature even as its economy, education system, military, political institutions, and technology hold steady. The polarization of China and the United States will not result in another Cold War scenario, but their mutual distrust will ultimately drive the world center from Europe to East Asia.
Using the lens of classical Chinese political theory, Leadership and the Rise of Great Powers offers a provocative, alternative perspective on the changing dominance of nations on the global stage.
280 pages, Hardcover
Published April 9, 2019
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328 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 27, 2021
Great Concept, Mediocre Execution.
I came into this book excited and interested. Yan Xuetong has an excellent reputation, and I very much share the opinion that ancient Chinese philosophical works offer important and useful insight into IR and governance- it was no mean feat to successfully govern a massive nation for millennia, and martial armies in the hundreds of thousands, with none of the modern advantages of technology after all. That alone speaks to the skill and insight of ancient China.
Sadly, this aspect of the book is lackluster. The lion’s share of the focus is given to the Xunzi, a Confucian text with Legalist tendencies. Little understanding of Taoism is displayed- it is dismissed as “innactive,” leadership and relies wholly on the Laozi rather than the more comprehensive and relevant to governance Huainanzi.
This trend of dismissiveness and generalization weakens other aspects of the book as well. For instance, the arguments for efficacy and importance of “justice” and humaneness in international leadership could have benefitted from liberal IR understandings of incentive-oriented leveraging of demographics to make international law carry weight in domestic spheres. This could have informed on the mechanism by which such leadership has effect on other states, but instead it is essentially presented with a vague “it works because actually morality is universal despite evidence to the contrary” while liberalism is, again, dismissed. Many topics of history and IR are treated in a shallow and generalized way, and it can become a bit tedious because of this.
The book does make some useful points, hence my 3 star rating, not 1 star, and has a good concept of valuing ancient thinkers more highly(they truly deserve the attention.) The notion of political leadership having a multiplicative affect on national power, and that bad decisions of leading states matter just as much as good decisions of rising states are valid. That said, even here- why not delve more into how the multiplicative effect of leadership functions? No time is spared for this sort of discussion. Perhaps he will in other works, but I do not think I will be spending money on those.
I came into this book excited and interested. Yan Xuetong has an excellent reputation, and I very much share the opinion that ancient Chinese philosophical works offer important and useful insight into IR and governance- it was no mean feat to successfully govern a massive nation for millennia, and martial armies in the hundreds of thousands, with none of the modern advantages of technology after all. That alone speaks to the skill and insight of ancient China.
Sadly, this aspect of the book is lackluster. The lion’s share of the focus is given to the Xunzi, a Confucian text with Legalist tendencies. Little understanding of Taoism is displayed- it is dismissed as “innactive,” leadership and relies wholly on the Laozi rather than the more comprehensive and relevant to governance Huainanzi.
This trend of dismissiveness and generalization weakens other aspects of the book as well. For instance, the arguments for efficacy and importance of “justice” and humaneness in international leadership could have benefitted from liberal IR understandings of incentive-oriented leveraging of demographics to make international law carry weight in domestic spheres. This could have informed on the mechanism by which such leadership has effect on other states, but instead it is essentially presented with a vague “it works because actually morality is universal despite evidence to the contrary” while liberalism is, again, dismissed. Many topics of history and IR are treated in a shallow and generalized way, and it can become a bit tedious because of this.
The book does make some useful points, hence my 3 star rating, not 1 star, and has a good concept of valuing ancient thinkers more highly(they truly deserve the attention.) The notion of political leadership having a multiplicative affect on national power, and that bad decisions of leading states matter just as much as good decisions of rising states are valid. That said, even here- why not delve more into how the multiplicative effect of leadership functions? No time is spared for this sort of discussion. Perhaps he will in other works, but I do not think I will be spending money on those.
February 18, 2020
This book’s title is Leadership and The Rise of Great Powers. It is written by a Professor of political science and dean of the Institute of International relations at Tsinghua University in Beijing. I certainly found it quite interesting. However, he, of course, felt that the US will fall in power and the China will be the superpower of the future. But he would have to say that being a professor in a Chinese University.
One thing I find interesting was that he called the US Antiestablishmentarianism. This is a political philosophy that views a nation's or society's power structure as corrupt, repressive, exploitative, or unjust. Apparently, he is not the only one to think this.
There is a review at the Princeton University Press site. There is a discussion on moral realism on the Oxford Academic site.
One thing I find interesting was that he called the US Antiestablishmentarianism. This is a political philosophy that views a nation's or society's power structure as corrupt, repressive, exploitative, or unjust. Apparently, he is not the only one to think this.
There is a review at the Princeton University Press site. There is a discussion on moral realism on the Oxford Academic site.
November 17, 2020
The only objective of the author was to promote the current chinese world domination propaganda while writing this book. With the way china behaved in this 2020 pandemic towards countries like italy (selling PPEs back to them which they had recieved in donation) and india (unwarranted attacks over LAC while the whole world is dealing with a virus that they did not disclose in the first place), I think china has a long way to go before being a super power. But obviously the writer being a chinese professor in a chinese university feels obligated to write the many "greats" of the political ruling of his country. So what we get is a biased literature on "oh, how amazing the chinese governance is" saga with "not so liberally" peppered data on the governments of other countries in world.
August 29, 2019
A well-written and incisive "lifting of the curtain" on how China sees the evolution of the international political system and how rising states challenge the dominant power. This book allows one to recognise acutely how Trump's immorality, lack of understanding of the contours of history, and appreciation of the importance of personal and national credibility are contributing to a rapid decline of not just the U.S. place in global affairs, but the role of liberal democracy in shaping the world of our children.
Read
September 6, 2020The book uses theories to hide one's castration, observing the world with ill-constraints, good luck defending for autocrats.
March 27, 2024
little facts, little objectivity and a lot of bias.
January 22, 2022
Admittedly, this book was not what I expected given the title. In many respects it is both different and better. Not for the faint of heart looking for a light read, Yan Xuetong is a distinguished professor at Tsinghua University in China who pens a very persuasive (although not without many holes) argument for how states like China rise.
Much has been regarding the decline of great powers, particularly from a contextual revisionist lens, but most do not cover their rise. Exiting uses the lens of Classical Chinese political theory by presenting a moral-realist version to describe China’s expanding influence, attributing it to political leadership. He argues that the stronger a state’s political leadership, the more likely it is to displace a prevailing great power/state in the international system. He makes this argument even as the prevailing nation—the United States—holds even international economic, educational, military, political and technology stature. Despite this, he exposes chinks in the US armor while offering an alternative perspective on the changing dominance of states.
Much has been regarding the decline of great powers, particularly from a contextual revisionist lens, but most do not cover their rise. Exiting uses the lens of Classical Chinese political theory by presenting a moral-realist version to describe China’s expanding influence, attributing it to political leadership. He argues that the stronger a state’s political leadership, the more likely it is to displace a prevailing great power/state in the international system. He makes this argument even as the prevailing nation—the United States—holds even international economic, educational, military, political and technology stature. Despite this, he exposes chinks in the US armor while offering an alternative perspective on the changing dominance of states.
September 6, 2020
Out of all the factors that determine a nation’s fate, leadership matters the most. The author believes that moral leadership is the most effective, and could be brought in by humane authority. As China challenges the US for global dominance, we could observe the retreat of global leadership, and a more anarchic world with ideologies competing endlessly. But in the author’s eyes, a blend of Western liberalism and Chinese tradition could bring about a new international ideology which could provide a positive way forward.
August 20, 2020
Excellent
An excellent and thorough overview of international relations, and how great powers rise and fall. The emphasis is on the importance of leadership. However the book, grounded in Chinese political history, also highlights the differences between East Asian and European experiences. A fascinating read.
An excellent and thorough overview of international relations, and how great powers rise and fall. The emphasis is on the importance of leadership. However the book, grounded in Chinese political history, also highlights the differences between East Asian and European experiences. A fascinating read.
February 19, 2021
忽悠完中国人去忽悠外国人了。不是高级黑就是深井冰
May 18, 2023
The first model proposed by a Realist theorist that truly and fully describes the role of Political Leadership in international relationships. Essential.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews