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DANGEROUS BORDERS. Edition No. 1
VDM Publishing House, Aug 2009, Pages: 60
Despite historically bad relations between the PRC and the Soviet Union, China’s policy towards the Central Asian republics has been especially friendly. This book explains how against expectations derived from Realism, the settlement of old territorial disputes was relatively quick and peaceful. Moreover,the settlement of the disputes provided a basis for regional cooperation between the countries through the institutional framework of the SCO. Developing on already existing theories such as Omnibalancing and Fravel’s work, this book argues that domestic politics were instrumental in explaining Chinese behavior. Fear of instability in Xinjiang and of an Uyghur uprising led Beijing to develop its policy towards the bordering countries accordingly. This allowed the regime to balance internal threats—mainly motivated by the lack of legitimacy of the regime—by strengthening its relations with its western near abroad. The book sheds light on the dynamics of Chinese foreign policy in Central Asia and the limits of traditional theoretical approaches to the field. It should be of interest to academics as well as to a wider public concerned with current events.
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