International Institute for Strategic Studies

Abstract

The new inflections in China’s grand strategy suggest a deliberate effort to convey a kinder, gentler face abroad even as Beijing works to expand the opportunities for increasing its great power capabilities and status. However, success here is by no means foreordained. China may seek to avoid exacerbating regional security dilemmas, but its concomitant preparations to deal with potential separatism, territorial disputes, problems of tenuous energy supplies, and the quest for great power capabilities compel it to develop military capabilities that will cause concern in regional capitals and in Washington. The end result may be an outcome that China neither desires nor can prevent.