Confucian Vision of a New World Order?

Abstract

/ The aims of this article are three-fold. First, it attempts to examine key features of a culturalist discourse reflecting a Confucian vision of a new world order that is being incorporated into China's foreign policy. Second, it analyses and assesses Chinese pragmatic nationalism that underpins an accommodationist foreign policy, contextualized within the ruling Communist Party's comprehensive revamping of itself on a new culturalist basis, in particular with the Hu—Wen leadership in the early years of the 21st century. Third, it examines the role of the press in disseminating the culturalist discourse and assesses its implications. The article concludes that the impact of the Confucian pacifist discourse on external perceptions of China is still limited, due to structural problems existing between China and the West, complexities and inherent tensions within Chinese nationalism and China's internal dynamics of politics.