After the Cold War, America's leaders hoped China could be integrated into the rules-based international order and might even become more like the West. By the late 2010s, their optimism was dead. In The End of Engagement, David M. McCourt traces the intense personal, professional, and policy struggles over China in U.S. foreign policy since 1989. Drawing on 120 original interviews with America's China experts--from former policymakers and diplomats to prominent think tankers and academics--McCourt chronicles the rise and recent fall of "engagement" with Beijing.

While there are numerous explanations for why America moved away from engagement with China in the last decade, McCourt shows that none consider how important foreign policy knowledge communities have been in impacting policy.

Adopting a unique, sociological perspective, this book offers an intimate look into the world of America's national security experts as they have struggled to make sense of changes in China and the remaining question of what comes next.

Join the Lau China Institute on Wednesday 12 March where guest speaker, Professor David McCourt, University of California-Davis, will be discussing his new book 'The End of Engagement: America's China and Russia Experts and US Strategy Since 1989.'

NB Registration is required for all external attendees. 

About the speaker

David M. McCourt is Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of California-Davis, and is spending the academic year 2024-2025 as Visiting Professor at New York University Abu Dhabi. The author of The End of Engagement: America’s China and Russia Experts and U.S. Strategy Since 1989, he is currently finishing a follow-on study titled American Hegemony and China’s Rise: Knowing the PRC in Washington, Canberra, and London.