Interpreting shifts in a nation’s foreign policy can be a difficult task in the absence of direct access to leaders’ strategic thinking. At any rate, the complexity of geopolitical posturing and jockeying for position when multiple actors are involved do not lend themselves to straightforward answers. Yet, political scientists continue striving to find parsimonious explanations: ones that explain a state’s behavior with reference to one or a small set of variables.

In China’s Asymmetric Statecraft, Yuxing Huang seeks to explain China’s statecraft toward its mostly smaller and weaker neighbors by positing that the number of regional rivals is the decisive factor. When there is one rival in a region, he claims, China adopts a uniform approach to its asymmetric statecraft with nonallied neighbors. This is intended to present an attractive image of fairness and consistency. At times when there are two or more rivals, China switches to a selective approach, tailoring its policy to each state. In each case, the uniform or selective approach is supposed to encourage the state to lean toward China rather than the competition. On the other hand, Huang claims, the reverse is true with regard to regional allies: a uniform approach when there is more than one competitor and a selective approach when there is only one.

Huang