A Revisionist Stakeholder: China and the Post-World War II World Order

Taking advantage of President Trump’s retreat from global leadership, President Xi has vowed to provide ‘China solutions’ to global governance, raising the question if China is to overhaul the post-World War II world order. This article argues that China is not ready to step into America’s shoes. Embracing the Westphalian principles of state sovereignty, the fundamental norms of the post-World War II order, while adapting to the liberal norms of globalization, China is a revisionist stakeholder, dissatisfied not with the fundamental rules of the order but its status in the hierarchy of the order.