This edited book is devoted to an analysis of how the multiple modernities approach might help strengthen the strategic autonomy of the European Union and foster cooperative EU–China relations at a time when some observers believe that a new global cold war may be on the horizon. An international, interdisciplinary team of eminent scholars analyzes both the forces causing dangerous tensions to escalate and those that might stabilize the situation. Whether from China or Europe, the authors largely converge in their diagnoses. To serve its own vital interests, the EU can and must play the role of a politically independent actor, a mediator committed to the preservation of a fair and peaceful rules-based order. To do that, it must first pinpoint the economic and political concerns that it shares with both China and the USA, using them as guidelines in developing its own global strategies. The chapters collected in this volume try to shed light on that endeavor. Additionally, several aim to clarify China’s true intentions in international politics, beyond the rhetoric of conflict in which all parties presently engage. What role does Asia’s leading power actually aspire to play in world politics?

The book will be of interest to students of history, international relations, international political economy, European and Chinese studies, and military and security affairs.

Furthermore, its timely subject should stimulate debate among a wider audience of journalists, policy professionals, and politically engaged readers the world over.