China's Foreign Policy

by Stuart Harris

Overview

Welcome to Gradieshti, a Soviet village awash in gray buildings and ramshackle fences, home to a large, collective farm and to the most oddball and endearing cast of characters possible. For three years in the 1960s, Vladimir Tsesis—inestimable Soviet doctor and irrepressible jester—was stationed in a village where racing tractor drivers tossed vodka bottles to each other for sport; where farmers and townspeople secretly mocked and tried to endure the Communist way of life; where milk for children, running water, and adequate electricity were rare; where the world's smallest, motley parade became the country's longest; and where one compulsively amorous Communist Party leader met a memorable, chilling fate. From a frantic pursuit of calcium-deprived, lunatic Socialist chickens to a father begging on his knees to Soviet officials to obtain antibiotic for his dying child, Vladimir's tales of Gradieshti are unforgettable. Sometimes hysterical, often moving, always a remarkable and highly entertaining insider's look at rural life under the old Soviet regime, they are a sobering exposé of the terrible inadequacies of its much-lauded socialist medical system.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780745684239
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	07/02/2014
Series:	China Today
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Stuart Harris is Professor Emeritus of International Relations at the Australian National University, and a former head of the Australian department for foreign affairs and trade

Table of Contents

Map
Chronology
Preface
Abbreviations
1 Continuity and change in China’s foreign policies
2 Foreign policy decision-making
3 China, the world and the international system
4 Insecurity and vulnerability
5 Military threats and responses
6 Economic foreign policy
7 China, its neighbours and beyond
8 Foreign Policy in Transition
Notes
References

What People are Saying About This

Deborah A. Field

In this memoir, a pediatrician describes his work in a Moldovan village; Vladimir A. Tsesis's stories are darkly funny and reveal much about the poverty, drunkenness, political corruption, anti-Semitism, and fundamental absurdity of rural life in the Soviet 1960s.

Michael Medved

To understand the confusing reality of Russia today, it helps to recall the 'bad-old-days' of the late, unlamented Soviet Union. This warm, touching and occasionally hilarious book can assist those recollections.

Editorial Reviews

"Above all, and especially for those coming to Chinese foreign policy and affairs for the first time, Harris' book is balanced, orderly and informative"
THE

"In this balanced and sensible analysis, Stuart Harris offers a clear and engaging account of China's foreign policy and the internal and external pressures its leaders face. Impartial and non-alarmist in its discussion of the so-called China threat, this book will serve instructors and students admirably."
Andrew J. Nathan, Columbia University

"A thoughtful, comprehensive and well-written analysis of the multiple domestic and international sources of Chinese foreign policy and of China's policy toward the United States, its Asian neighbours, and international institutions and norms. It is an admirably balanced account that places Chinese policy in the context of Chinese culture, history, national interests and its improving economic and military capabilities and in the context of the patterns of behaviour of other countries."
Robert Ross, Boston College

"Harris' book, is well and fluently written, organized, informative and very comprehensive in terms of including many aspects of China's foreign policy and makes a valuable contribution to the field of International Relations, particularly Chinese Studies."
Insight Turkey

From the Publisher