Alternative Order Without Alternative Norms?

Abstract

The Chinese government, especially under President Xi Jinping, is willing to propose an alternative to the existing US-led international order. Accordingly, new or alternative understandings of and approaches to the international order that are more finely attuned to China are increasingly sought, and it is therefore not surprising that the Chinese International Relations (IR) community is attempting to establish the conceptual or theoretical sources and normative rationales for an alternative international order by developing indigenous IR theories that reflect "Chinese characteristics". However, whether China is able to define and actualise a "new normal" in international relations-whether, that is, it can have and exercise "normative power"-is contingent on the recognition of Chinese discourses of that alternative by other actors. A key question, then, is: if and to what extent are Chinese alternatives recognised beyond China? I address this question, with a focus on the issue of knowledge transmission and sharing in three large East Asian IR communities. More specifically, I analyse their conceptual, theoretical, and epistemological orientations. I also compare the orientations with American IR scholarship, using various forms of evidence, including the most recent Teaching, Research, and International Policy survey data.