Dr Sujian Guo is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at San Francisco State University, USA, and Editor of the Journal of Chinese Political Science. His research interests include Chinese/Asian politics, communist and post-communist studies, democratic transitions, and the political economy of East and Southeast Asia. He has published more than two dozens of articles both in English and Chinese. He is the author of The Political Economy of Asian Transition from Communism (2006) and Post-Mao China: from Totalitarianism to Authoritarianism? (2000).

'Will the world's most populous polity, which is also our planet's fastest-growing large economy, develop in peace or in strife? This question is international. It is also domestic because of inequalities and growth pains within China. This book addresses issues of representation and legitimacy, coercion and armies, and China's relations with America, Central Asia, and Japan. The result is a comprehensive overview text, with interpretations based on new scholarship, concerning China's current development.' Lynn T. White III, Princeton University, USA 'Whether China can become a world power without provoking a world war (as Germany and Japan once did) is the key question addressed by this important book. How do the Chinese understand and propose to solve this riddle? Both domestic and international implications of China's strategic choice are carefully analyzed in a text that will interest college students at all levels and indeed everyone interested in the future of world politics.' Lowell Dittmer, University of California at Berkeley, USA 'This theoretically and empirically based book provides readers with rich information and knowledge about China's policy of peaceful rise and its impediments...this book is not only a good reference for students and scholars interested in China but also an important resource for policy makers and policy analysts.' The China Journal '...the book provides careful analyses of many of the most salient issues facing China's leadership in the early 21st century. It is well thought out and brings together a diversity of writers to address the important question of what might keep China from becoming a world power peacefully.' Journal of Chinese Political Science '...offers a valuable discussion of Chinese perspectives on the theory and practice of international relations. At the same time, its explorations are both informative and provocative...invaluable for the purposes of teaching and theorizing the transformations of global life from the perspective of the increasing centrality of Asian affairs.' Political Studies Review

• Contents: Introduction: Challenges and Opportunities for China's "Peaceful Rise", Sujian Guo. Part 1 Domestic Conditions of China's Peaceful Rise: The dialectic relationship between peaceful development and China's deep reform, Guoli Liu; China's peaceful development, regime stability, and political legitimacy, Baogang Guo; Corruption, economic growth and regime stability in China's peaceful rise, Shawn Sheih; Strategic repression and regime stability in China's peaceful development, Andrew Wedeman; Hybrid Regime and peaceful development in China, Zhengxu Wang. Part 2 International Conditions of China's Peaceful Rise: The international conditions of China's peaceful rise: challenges and opportunities, Li Qingsi; Maintaining an asymmetric but stable China-US military relationship, Xuetang Guo; A rising China: Catalysts for Chinese military modernization, Bang Quan Zheng; China's peaceful rise and Sino-Japanese territorial and maritime tensions, Jean-Marc F. Blanchard; China's rise and contemporary geopolitics in Central Asia, Oliver M. Lee; Index.