Beyond Compliance

Beyond Compliance argues that the record of China's international behavior since the 1970s indicates the long-term effectiveness of the multilateral system. Through its analysis of China's interaction with leading international organizations—such as the Conference on Disarmament, the IMF, and the United Nations Environmental Programme—it concludes that engagement with the multilateral system is the key to the gradual socialization of "rogue" states. Contrasting the People's Republic of China's post-1949 alienation from the international community with its increasing compliance since it entered the United Nations in 1971 with the rules of leading international institutions, Kent explains China's changing attitude toward international institutions in terms of the most appropriate theories of state compliance. At the same time, she argues that compliance theories on their own are not sufficient to explain the complex interaction between states and the international system and develops a broader theory to encompass China's behavior.

"Beyond Compliance shows the landscape and dynamics of compliance and cooperation by connecting relevant theories in both IL and IR with specific case from different perspectives.", "With such a complete, well-organized analysis as Kent's in this volume, it is hard to ask for more of a study...this book provides stellar research and analysis that represent an exemplary model for scholars in the fields of China studies, international relations, and comparative politics.", "Kent looks at the role international organizations, treaties, and the interdependent world system have played in China's growing compliance... Kent's case studies are insightful, comprehensive, and invaluable in understanding China's behavior in multilateral organizations. Highly recommended.", "Kent has written a superb historical chronology of China's increasing entanglement with international organizations. Beyond Compliance will be an invaluable resource for Asian security specialists and students of Chinese foreign policy.", "This superb study of China's participation in international organizations fills a curious but important void in the secondary literature on Chinese foreign policy. Despite China's rise and full emergence on the world stage, there has been a remarkable absence of book-length studies of the People's Republic of China's participation in intergovernmental organizations. Now Ann Kent's Beyond Compliance more than fills the void. This is a work of major significance that will become the staple on the subject for many years."

Ann Kent is a Visiting Fellow in the College of Law at the Australian National University. She is the author of numerous books and articles on China and international organizations.