Research Structure

A Chinese foreign-policy process emerged in the aftermath of the reform era. During this time, a number of key developments within the state structure reshaped the process. These developments have produced a foreign-policy process that now consists of a number of actors, each with its own particular institutional environment and institutional objective. Thus, the actions of various actors often come into conflict with one another and lead to counterproductive actions. This raises an important question: How does the Chinese foreign-policy process function if the actors within the process are in conflict or undertaking counterproductive actions? This study argues that a structural imperative facilitates the functioning of the system by allowing for collective action. It also argues that the dominant political discourse is that structural imperative.