Courses
Examines China’s relations with the countries along its territorial and maritime periphery, which form a core dimension of Chinese foreign and security policy. China’s neighbors have interests that do not always align with China’s preferences, some involving fundamental disagreements over territorial rights, resources, and political values. The way in which China manages its relationships also has implications for its broader global goals and how China sees itself as a nation-state. This course also gives close attention to how China manages its physical borders, including through provincial and sub-provincial institutions. Note: successful completion of this course fulfills the capstone requirement for second-year MAIR students. Click here for Capstone course application information. <a href="https://livejohnshopkins.sharepoint.com/sites/SAISInsider2/SitePages/DC-Capstones,-Professional-Skills-Courses.aspx" target="_blank">Click here for Capstone course application information</a>
Prerequisite(s): Students may not register for this class if they have already received credit for SA.750.749[C]
Over the past thirty years, China has gone from being one of the most isolated countries in the world to a major player in international affairs. Yet despite its growing power and influence, it maintains an ambivalent attitude towards international law and the liberal international order. This class will explore that ambivalence, and will in particular examine how China might adapt to the existing world order and the ways in which China will look to influence its evolution. The class will cover China’s approach to international peace and security, China’s membership in the WTO, Beijing’s engagement with the international human rights regime, and the South China Sea dispute, among other topics.
Prerequisite(s): Students may not register for this class if they have already received credit for SA.750.602[C]
This course examines the political and institutional foundations sustaining contemporary China’s economic growth and reforms, as well as the consequences of its transition. The course focuses on several paradoxes. How does China push for market-oriented reforms without democratizing the authoritarian political system? Is the state still in control in today’s economy? How does China reconcile the communist party ideology with its fast-growing private sector, and with elements of capitalism? How does the state balance the centralization and decentralization of economic policy making and implementation? What is the rationale and the consequences of China’s internationalization? How does the US-China tech war influence China and its position in the global value chain? Can the “China model” work in other contexts? We will examine these important questions through a combination of conceptual frameworks, real world examples, and policy analysis.
Prerequisite(s): Students may not register for this class if they have already received credit for SA.750.740[C]
This course analyzes the evolution of the People’s Republic of China’s foreign policy. It deals with China’s objectives, institutions, instruments of policy, changing alignments, and growing role in the international system, directing considerable attention to specific policy issues and the policy process.
Prerequisite(s): Students may not register for this class if they have already received credit for SA.750.702[C]
Analyzes the domestic politics of the People’s Republic of China, with particular emphasis on the reform era. This introductory course covers political history, policy process and institutional issues, leadership and the challenge of socioeconomic modernization. Focuses on recurrent and substantive policy issues in Chinese politics.
Prerequisite(s): Students may not register for this class if they have already received credit for SA.750.228[C]
This course is a broad survey of what leadership looks like in China. The main through-line of the course is the iterative and evolving dynamics between incentives/constraints and agency. We will explore the state as the playing field where these dynamics are played out, over time (to explore continuity and change) and across space (to explore adaptation and innovation). The course does not presume prior knowledge of China or Chinese language, but students new to the study of China are encouraged to pay special attention to the cumulative nature of the course and invest in the readings, particularly in the first four weeks. Although some of the themes of this course may minimally overlap with/reinforce other courses offered at SAIS, the approach to this class will be significantly different.
Prerequisite(s): Students may not register for this class if they have already received credit for SA.750.752[C]
Examines how Taiwan has developed into an economic powerhouse and an open, stable society but also presents one of the thorniest issues in China-U.S. relations. Considers Taiwan’s unique international status and its complex sense of identity. Examines the roots of ongoing tensions between Mainland China and Taiwan and the U.S. and how Taiwan, despite its achievements, threatens to become once again a flashpoint.
Prerequisite(s): Students may not register for this class if they have already received credit for SA.750.729[C]
This course explores maritime security in Asia, with a focus on the People's Republic of China's maritime power and its consequences for regional order. Students will work to understand the nature of China's maritime rise, and consider how it is shaping regional maritime security dynamics as well as the strategies of the major regional players -- including the US, Japan, India, the Koreas, Australia, and southeast Asian nations. The course begins with the end of the Second World War in the Pacific as the historical baseline for grappling with contemporary regional maritime security questions. Subsequent areas of concentration include: past and present tensions in the Taiwan Strait, maritime disputes in the East and South China Seas, the functions of the US alliance network in the first and second "island chains," regional fisheries management, marine environmental conservation, offshore energy development, and the evolution of international maritime law and order in Asia. While anchoring on China's maritime strategy, the course addresses traditional and non-traditional maritime security issues among all of the major regional stakeholders.
China has come to play an increasingly influential role in global trade, finance, and economic governance. This course will analyze China’s global economic influence through an analysis of issue areas (supply chains, regional integration, currency internationalization), global initiatives (OBOR, AIIB), and regional impacts. In addition to describing China’s role in the global economy, the course will also focus on the domestic economic pressures that have influenced China’s global behavior and the costs/benefits to China’s domestic economy from its increasing global exposure.
Examines U.S. policy toward China and specific U.S.-Chinese political, economic, cultural and security relations, with emphasis on the post-1949 period. Gives special attention to the foreign policy processes in each nation, recurrent policy issues and their implications for each nation’s behavior, and relations with third parties.
This course explores China’s changing approach to its frontiers, both its territorial periphery and the frontiers created by its rising capabilities to use what are often described as “ global commons,” such as the oceans, polar regions and outer space. Through close readings of academic and policy-oriented literature and primary research, this class enables students to delve into emerging issues in China’s role on the global stage. A goal is for students to explore how the admixture of China’s renewed emphasis in its governance on centralized leadership by the Chinese Communist Party, its push to advance its already considerable technical and technological prowess, and its growing concern with military-security as well as development in its civil and military planning is reshaping China’s foreign and security policy and attendant international relations.