Are the U.S. and China heading for a new cold war? With President Xi Jinping tightening his grip on power, China has positioned itself to expand its influence all across Asia and into the West. In response, the Trump Administration is rolling out a new Asia grand strategy to counter China’s militarization and expansionism.

But for the U.S. to compete effectively with a “revisionist” China,  it is critical that American strategists develop a deeper understanding of how China’s strategy and statecraft has developed in the modern period. This one-week course will examine the goals and purposes of China’s grand strategy – and, more specifically, its “dream” of “great national rejuvenation.”

In this seminar, students will explore major continuities and discontinuities in China’s approach to the modern world from the height of the Qing Empire through 2020 (a period roughly equivalent to the existence of the United States). And they will examine how current Chinese strategy seeks to shape its future.

Images courtesy White House | U.S. Department of Defense

Dan Blumenthal on Chinese Grand Strategy


Daniel Blumenthal


Preview the Syllabus by Week/Session



Discussion Questions:

  1. The “China dream”: What does it mean? What is the CCP’s grand strategic objective?
  2. Does the “China dream” represent a break with past Chinese grand strategy or a continuation of it?
  3. How does Xi Jinping envision China achieving its strategic objectives?
  4. How has Xi’s strengthening of the CCP impacted strategy?



Discussion Questions:

  1. How did China under the Qing understand itself in relation to its various neighbors—the Mongols, East Eurasians, Vietnam, and Korea? What policies did it pursue toward those neighbors? What was “Sinification”?
  2. What would it mean to “reunify” the Qing Dynasty empire? How successful has China been in reconstituting its historical holdings?
  3. Is China’s imperial mindset compatible with the Westphalian system of international relations based on “sovereign equals”?
  4. How did Mao understand China’s strategic situation post-WWII? How did he respond to that situation? What were his strategic objectives? How did he use alliances to achieve his objectives?
  5. In what ways has China become a modern nation-state? In what ways is it still a premodern civilization/empire?



Discussion Questions:

  1. How did Deng Xiaoping understand China’s strategic situation? How did he respond to that situation? What were his strategic objectives?
  2. What was “reform and opening”? What did Deng hope to achieve with this policy?
  3. In what ways has China become a “post-modern,” globalized nation? In what was does it remain a modern nation-state? An empire?
  4. Are Deng’s changes reversible? Is it possible to de-globalize China?



Discussion Questions:

  1. How have Xi and the CCP responded to their strategic environment? What actions have they taken toward internal threats, their neighbors, and the U.S.?
  2. What continuities and discontinuities do you see with China’s strategy, past and present? In what ways is it still acting as an empire? A nation-state? A globalized economy?
  3. What are the strategic implications of China’s grand strategy for the U.S. and its allies?

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