Womack, Brantly

Abstract
Although China’s underlying capabilities have developed at a fairly steady pace over the past 20 years and its ambitions have remained relatively stable, the shock of uncertainty and relative change since 2008 has driven an ongoing interaction between heightened international anxiety over China’s rise and greater assertiveness on China’s part. In academic circles, the question is raised whether China is a status quo power willing to be a stakeholder in the existing international system, or whether it has ambitions to be a revisionist power challenging the existing order. The resulting tension is especially acute in East Asia and in relations between China and the United States. Given the novel dynamics of the current era of global economic uncertainty, international normalcy should not be judged by the status quo of the post-Cold War era but rather by a ‘status ad quem’, a future situation of sustainable relationships in a post-hegemonic era. The prospective diplomacy of all states should be judged by the likelihood of their accommodation to a new era.
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