Over the past decade, China's political and economical growth have been the center of attention to various -not to say all- countries all over the world; it's almost as if China's success has become the "Brangelina" of politics. However, just like some of China's neighboring countries (such as South Korea) have developed a closer bond and consequently created a popular opinion showing China to be more highly regarded, some major powers, such as the U.S, have shown skepticism towards China's so-called 'peaceful rise ' (Sutter, 2004, p.284). By analyzing three of the main theoretical approaches (realism, liberalism and social constructivism), this paper will argue that China's incessant growth is not to be regarded as a threat to the United States' security. .
The Rise of China: Realism .
The realist perspective is extremely broad; nevertheless, it focuses on three key ideas: statism, survival and self-help (Baylis et al., 2011, p.87). Statism, in simpler terms, refers to states being the key actor and ultimate authority in the political stage (D'Erman, 2012, Jan 20 lecture). Survival –in realist theory- is the states' priority in any given situation. Lastly, self-help emphasizes on the idea that no other state or institution can guarantee survival; it (the state) cannot rely on anybody or anything else but itself in order to survive. In addition, self-help brings out the idea of anarchy in realist theory, meaning that there is no global government or any higher authority than the state. Furthermore, realists view world politics as a constant struggle for power between states, with each state trying to maximize their own national interest (Baylis et al., 2011, p.4). Overall, realists are primarily concerned with state survival; at the same time, they aim to find the balance between power and dominance with the state being their main actor. Moreover, when it comes to the rise of China, "the prevalent views of Western countries -the United States in this particular case- perceived rising China with realist suspicions that China would challenge the international system" (Yue, 2008) for their own benefit, lowering the U.
