"Selective Engagements—Chinese Naval Diplomacy And U.S.-China Competition" - By CWP Alum Joel Wuthnow

As China enters a period of heightened strategic competition with the United States, the PLAN will adjust its foreign-engagement strategy. China will forge stronger naval relations with non-U.S. major powers, including Russia; the United States will attempt to deny China new overseas naval facilities; and both countries will use exercises and other instruments to shape regional perceptions.

Joel Wuthnow, Institute for National Strategic Studies at National Defense University
Margaret Baughman, SOS International—Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis

Wuthnow, Joel and Baughman, Margaret () "Selective Engagements—Chinese Naval Diplomacy and U.S.-China Competition," Naval War College Review: Vol. 76: No. 1, Article 6.
Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol76/iss1/6

Dr. Joel Wuthnow is a senior research fellow in the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs within the Institute for National Strategic Studies at NDU. His research areas include Chinese foreign and security policy, Chinese military affairs, U.S.-China relations, and strategic developments in East Asia. In addition to his duties in INSS, he also serves as an adjunct professor in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. 

His recent books and monographs, all from NDU Press, include Gray Dragons: Assessing China's Senior Military Leadership (2022), Crossing the Strait: China's Military Prepares for War with Taiwan (2022, lead editor), The PLA Beyond Borders: Chinese Military Operations in Regional and Global Context (2021, lead editor), System Overload: Can China's Military Be Distracted in a War over Taiwan? (2020), and Chairman Xi Remakes the PLA: Assessing Chinese Military Reforms (2019, co-editor). His research and commentary has also appeared in outlets such as Asia Policy, Asian Security, China Leadership Monitor, The China Quarterly, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Joint Force Quarterly, Journal of Contemporary China, Journal of Strategic Studies, Korean Journal of Defense Analysis, Naval War College Review, and in edited volumes. 

Prior to joining NDU, Dr. Wuthnow was a China analyst at CNA, a postdoctoral fellow in the China and the World Program at Princeton University, and a pre-doctoral fellow at The Brookings Institution. His degrees are from Princeton University (A.B., summa cum laude, in Public and International Affairs), Oxford University (M.Phil. in Modern Chinese Studies), and Columbia University (Ph.D. in Political Science). He is proficient in Mandarin. 

Photo Credit: By Original: 中华人民共和国国防部 Vector: 燃灯 - Own work based on: [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=124129056