This volume examines a series of complex debates surrounding the role of China’s historical ideals in shaping its foreign policy. Presenting and analyzing the works of key Chinese philosophers and prominent international relations theorists, the contributors—prestigious scholars from China, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France—examine how an idealized version of China’s imperial past now inspires a new generation of Chinese scholars and policymakers and their plans for China’s future.

Although a growing number of books treat China’s rise and world view, China Orders the World brings together Chinese and Western scholars in a uniquely detailed and nuanced exploration of how traditional Chinese culture is being remolded into a "Chinese-style" world order for the twenty-first century.

William A. Callahan is a professor of international politics and Chinese studies at the University of Manchester (UK), and codirector of the British Inter-University China Center in Oxford. His research examine sthe nexus of identity and security in China and East Asia. His books include China: The Pessoptimist Nation, Contingent States: Greater China and Transnational Relations, and Cultural Governance and Resistance in Pacific Asia. Elena Barabantseva is a British Inter-University China Centre Research Fellow and lecturer in Chinese politics at the University of Manchester. Her research focuses on Chinese identity politics, nationalism, transnationalism, and cultural citizenship. She is the author of Overseas Chinese, Ethnic Minorities and Nationalism: De-Centering China.