A refreshing tour de force of the PRC’s foreign relations over the past seven decades. Meticulously researched and masterfully composed, Robert Sutter’s balanced treatise on China’s engagement of the world explains how the legacies and aspirations define Chinese foreign policy ambitions. Thoroughly revised and expanded, this updated edition provides both the preliminary assessment of Xi Jinping’s first term in power and an insightful analysis of the difficult challenges that Beijing will have to face and overcome in the coming years in order to achieve preeminence in Asia and great-power stardom in the international system.

- Jingdong Yuan, University of Sydney,

Robert Sutter is one of America’s most knowledgeable and thoughtful observers of Chinese foreign policy. In this book, he offers a comprehensive and nuanced analysis of the multiple and complex historical, domestic, and international sources of Chinese foreign policy toward a wide range of countries and issue areas. In particular, Sutter offers a judicious and balanced analysis of the rise of China and of China’s challenge to international stability and US global leadership. He argues that despite increased Chinese economic and military capabilities, China’s diplomacy is beset by significant domestic and international problems that constrain its international influence. Foreign Relations of the PRC makes a timely and most valuable contribution to our understanding of the implications of rising China for world affairs and US security.

- Robert Ross, Harvard University,

Written by a distinguished academic with government experience in the practice of foreign policy, Robert Sutter's book provides a comprehensive overview of Chinese foreign policy since ‘liberation’ in 1949. Taking due account of China's more prominent international role since 2010 without getting bowled over, Sutter maintains a judiciously balanced view of China's future prospects. Highly recommended.

- Lowell Dittmer, University of California, Berkeley,