Foreign policies of the United States and European Union on China in 2000's

The rise of China in international economy has attracted the attention of major powers' such as the United States (the US) and European Union (EU). Especially after Cold War period, these aforementioned powers' interactions with China have gained crucial importance for international realm because of the changing dynamics of the international system. In this study, the United States and European Union policies on China in international relations have been examined. In other words, foreign policy behaviors of the US and the EU on China have been analyzed in terms of realism and especially offensive realism of which includes anarchy, statism, survival, self- help, security dilemma and balance of power. To be more specific, the implementation of the realist especially offensive realist assumptions to the US and the EU relations with China is the main concern of this thesis. The framework of this study is based on the literature review in order to analyze the US and China relations, and the EU and China relations. Moreover, the relations have been tried to be analyzed by using different indicators such as historical backgrounds, key events and key periods. In this context, the relations between the US and China and the relations between the EU and China are investigated separately in the light of offensive realism. Subsequently, the relations of the US and China are linked to the relations of the EU and China by conducting offensive realist theory approaches. In conclusion, this research outlines that not only both the US-China relations and the EU-China relations are shaped by offensive realist theory but also they have important different dynamics.