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As is the case with other social science disciplines and sub-disciplines, the field of international relations (IR) is beginning to assume a scholarly identity in China today. In some respects the field is building upon a foundation laid prior to the Cultural Revolution (when in 1964 then-Premier Zhou Enlai ordered the establishment of several IR research institutes and academic training programs), but in a very real sense it is only now being established for the first time. China's current opening to the world has provided additional stimulus to the development of the field as China's leaders and bureaucrats seek policy-oriented analyses of foreign nations. The field is expanding rapidly. This study will assess the current state of the field and will evaluate the potential for and impediments to developing the discipline.Defining the DisciplineVarious complex problems arise in trying to define the scope of the discipline of international relations in the Chinese context. Perhaps the biggest problem is that Chinese IR scholars and specialists have not themselves clearly delineated the parameters of their field. International relations therefore does not yet have a distinct identity as a discipline despite an increasingly strong institutional base of scholarship and analysis.

As is the case with other social science disciplines and sub-disciplines, the field of international relations (IR) is beginning to assume a scholarly identity in China today. In some respects the field is building upon a foundation laid prior to the Cultural Revolution (when in 1964 then-Premier Zhou Enlai ordered the establishment of several IR research institutes and academic training programs), but in a very real sense it is only now being established for the first time. China's current opening to the world has provided additional stimulus to the development of the field as China's leaders and bureaucrats seek policy-oriented analyses of foreign nations. The field is expanding rapidly. This study will assess the current state of the field and will evaluate the potential for and impediments to developing the discipline.Defining the DisciplineVarious complex problems arise in trying to define the scope of the discipline of international relations in the Chinese context. Perhaps the biggest problem is that Chinese IR scholars and specialists have not themselves clearly delineated the parameters of their field. International relations therefore does not yet have a distinct identity as a discipline despite an increasingly strong institutional base of scholarship and analysis.

From 2009 to the first half of 2019, China-U.S. relations have experienced a gradual yet sustained downturn. Particularly since 2017, the bilateral relationship has suffered a rapid downward spiral in almost every dimension. By early 2019, more and more Chinese and American observers are warning that the two countries may be moving toward a long-term, full-scale confrontation. This article reviews the 10-year deterioration of bilateral ties in three stages and analyzes the context behind and reasons for the steady downturn. Internal developments in the two countries have driven the changes in U.S.-China relations. Bilateral tensions in the realms of geostrategy, ideology, economics and trade, and international security are escalating and intensifying. Such a trend is unlikely to be reversed without major changes in world politics or the two countries' domestic politics. The greatest probability, as we see it, will be a continued downturn in the U.S.-China relationship with many bumps and stumbling blocks along the way. The best prospect both sides can hope for may be the Chinese saying dou-er-bu-po, or "fighting without breaking.