China’s Search for Security by Andrew J. Nathan and Andrew Scobell (review)
Abstract
Contemporary Southeast Asia Vol. 37, No. 1 (2015), pp. 154â56 DOI: 10.1355/cs37-1l © 2015 ISEAS ISSN 0129-797X print / ISSN 1793-284X electronic Chinaâs Search for Security. By Andrew J. Nathan and Andrew Scobell. New York: Columbia University Press, 2012. Hardcover: 406pp. Chinaâs Search for Security presents the anti-alarmist perspective within the American debate concerning the rise of China. While many other commentators describe China as calculatingly assertive and bent on driving the United States out of Asia to make way for a revival of Chinese domination, Nathan and Scobell portray Chinese security policy as a reflection of Chinaâs fundamental weakness and defensiveness: âVulnerability to threats is the main driver of Chinaâs foreign policyâ (p. 3), they write. Their theoretical approach is âmostly realistâ, augmented for ânuanceâ by borrowing from Constructivism, Institutionalism and Liberalism. Somewhat oddly, the authors define the latter as domestic interest groups driving foreign policymaking (p. xvi). Most sections of the book contain ample historical background, which helps stretch the length of the book to over 400 pages. As the authors are American, there is a heavy focus on US-China relations. The book also has very good summaries of the economic and domestic political aspects of