by Lowell Dittmer (East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore)

This volume looks at China's foreign policy from the perspective of learning theory, a relatively new approach to foreign policy analysis based on social psychology. It begins by attempting to conceptualize China's distinctive approach to policy learning, and then proceeds with a tentative periodization of China's learning experience from 1979 to 1999. It concludes that Chinese foreign policy learning has exhibited a certain continuity since the founding of the People's Republic, with learning and teaching structured to alternate with and complement each other.

• The Post-Mao Cycle
• The Post-Cold War Cycle
• The Post-Deng Cycle