The Making of Chinese Foreign and Security Policy in the Era of Reform

The Making of Chinese Foreign and Security Policy in the Era of Reform. Edited by DAVID LAMPTON. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. xviii, 508 pp. $65.00 (cloth); $19.95 (paper).

In the preface, David Lampton notes that "as a teacher I found myself needing a volume that systematically addressed the question 'How is Chinese foreign and national security policy made?'" (p. xi). Lampton scores a complete success in realizing his dream thanks to three factors. First, over the past twenty years China's policy processes have become mature enough to be described and analyzed. Reform-era institutions were first glimpsed in the snapshot provided by Doak Barnett's The Making of Chinese Foreign Policy (1985), but they were at such an early stage of their development that a Chinese translation of Barnett's book was used as a textbook at the Foreign Affairs College in Beijing. Secondly, Lampton could draw on experts representing almost a generation of close American interaction with China in a variety of areas, and also on scholars from China with experience of the inner workings of the institutions and processes. Lastly, generous support from the Smith Richardson Foundation and the National Committee on United States-China Relations allowed the project to evolve over the course of several working conferences and, thus, to become a coordinated effort, rather than the usual set of individual articles aimed in a general direction. This book will become the key text for understanding the mechanisms of Chinese external policy for the foreseeable future.

The Making of Chinese Foreign and Security Policy in the Era of Reform, or MCFASPER, as a book that lists four pages of acronyms should be called, consists of twelve substantial chapters distributed among four sections: institutions and localities, elite and societal opinion, international system influences, and case studies. The chapters provide coordinated coverage of major areas. For instance, the institutional section includes chapters devoted to central institutions (Lu Ning), the military (Tai Ming Cheung), and provincial foreign affairs (Peter Cheung and James Tang). The provincial chapter adds a new dimension to the normal picture of Chinese foreign affairs.

The two chapters of the...