The Tsinghua Approach and the Inception of Chinese Theories of International Relations

Does political conflict affect bilateral trade or vice versa? Evidence from Sino-U.S. relations

“…Moreover, the level and pattern of political conflict will be masked. In this paper we use database from the Institute of International Relations of Tsinghua University that provides a quantitative assessment of Sino-U.S. relations 1 (Zhang, 2011). This database benefit from quantitative measures to divide bilateral political relations into six levels (Rivalry, Tension, Discord, Ordinary, Good, and Friendly).…”

An Intellectual Confession from a Member of the “Non-White” IR Community: A Friendly Reply to David Lake’s “White Man’s IR”

“…In addition, it is well known that Chinese scholars have long been trying to develop an IR theory with “Chinese characteristics.” Qin (2011, 313) of China Foreign Affairs University asserted that it “is likely and even inevitable” that a Chinese IR theory will “emerge along with the great economic and social transformation that China has been experiencing.” In this regard, Marxism, Confucianism, “ Tianxia ” (天下, “all-under-heaven”), the Chinese tributary system, and the philosophy of Xunzi or Hanfeizi are all brought in as theoretical resources of “Chinese IR” or “enriching” extant IR theories “with traditional Chinese thought” (Qin 2016, 33; Wan 2012; Wang 2011; Yan 2011, 255; Zhang 2012; Zhao 2009).…”

Conclusions: Wor(l)ds Beyond the West

“…An alternative solution to the forgetting, deschooling and unlearning of Western IR canon (Bleiker 1997;Tickner and Blaney 2013) is therefore to provincialize it by constructing or 'recovering' alternative canons. The retrieval of alternative canons has been key to the pre-Qin project of the Tsinghua School in China (Yan 2011;Zhang 2011). This reconstructive exercise has its own essentialist pitfalls (Cunningham-Cross and Callahan 2011), but it may nonetheless contribute to a provincialization that puts the Western IR canon in a new light.…”