Book Launch: Fractured China: How State Transformation Is Shaping China’s Rise

Presented by Peter Varghese (UQ) and A/Prof Shahar Hameiri (UQ)

Don’t miss the opportunity to hear UQ’s Chancellor Mr Peter Varghese and A/Prof Shahar Hameiri discuss Lee Jones and Shahar Hameiri’s exciting new book: Fractured China: How State Transformation is Shaping China’s Rise (Cambridge University Press, 2021). This discussion will be chaired and moderated by A/Prof Sarah Percy (UQ).

The book intervenes in the central debate in International Relations today: is China’s rise a threat to the established international order? Fractured China shows that it depends what one means by “China”. For China is not the monolithic, unitary actor that many assume. Forty years of state transformation – the fragmentation, decentralisation and internationalisation of party-state apparatuses – have profoundly changed how its foreign policy is made and implemented. Today, Chinese behaviour abroad is often not the product of a coherent grand strategy, but results from a sometimes-chaotic struggle for power and resources among contending politico-business interests, within a surprisingly permissive Chinese-style regulatory state. Presenting a pathbreaking new analytical framework, Fractured China transforms the central debate in International Relations and provides new tools for scholars and policymakers seeking to understand and respond to twenty-first century rising powers.

Read more about the book here, and use the code JONES21 to apply a 20% discount when purchasing.

UQ students and staff, and members of the wider community are welcome to attend this free event at Customs House. Light refreshments will be provided on the night – please advise dietary requirements when registering your ticket. 6:30pm arrival for a 7pm start. Registration is essential.