China as an emerging great power : implications and prospects for east Asian security

Abstract

The rapid rise of China in terms of economic, cultural, technological and military power is currently capturing great attention world-wide. The daunting task posing for IR scholars and policy makers is what China would likely to behave as an emerging great power - an aggressive or responsible power? Many works and papers so far suggest a rising dissatisfied China that wants to change the current international system in its favor. China, therefore, will undoubtedly become a revisionist/ non-status quo power to achieve regional hegemony that is likely to create instability in the region. The rise of China, in their eyes, will be definitely conflictual or war-prone. This dissertation, however, proposes an optimistic outlook for China's rising.