Oliver Turner | University of Edinburgh (original) (raw)

Papers by Oliver Turner

Foreign Policy Analysis , 2022

This article reintegrates the frontier into debates about contemporary global affairs. Its analyt... more This article reintegrates the frontier into debates about contemporary global affairs. Its analytical focus is the United States, because despite widespread agreement that it constitutes a “frontier nation,” we lack clear explanations of what the American frontier is today and what role(s) it occupies in US politics and foreign policy. To resolve this, the article ontologically reconceptualizes the frontier, arguing that it first constitutes a narrative, rather than a spatial, construct. Instead of conquering a once self-evident frontier, the United States has a long-standing tradition of narrative “frontiering” as the ideational (re)production of frontiers. The frontier has been most consistently understood not in terms of territory but ideas, with Washington's modern-day “frontiers of freedom”—notably in the Asia Pacific—as real and consequential as those of the past. The frontier-as-narrative represents a performative act about what the United States is and how it should engage at peripheral borderlands of its identity. Beyond the United States, frontiers are created and actioned anew to reshape international affairs.

Cambridge Review of International Affairs , 2021

It is often noted that former US President Donald Trump brought unpredictability to Washington's ... more It is often noted that former US President Donald Trump brought unpredictability to Washington's relationship with China. This may appear intuitively true, but in what ways was Trump actually 'unpredictable' towards China? We show that the most unpredictable feature of Trump's approach was his rhetoric, strongly defined by impulsivity, emotion and provocation. This generated rhetorical unpredictability which was regularly seen in inconsistent and contradictory statements. Using political psychology and leadership personality approaches, we further demonstrate that this unpredictable rhetoric can be traced to Trump's psychological profile. We argue that while the composition of Trump's China rhetoric was often difficult to anticipate, as a component of his US China policy it was predictable to the extent that it was grounded in his personality. Trumpian China policy broadly followed longer-term trends, but the president's erratic rhetoric had domestic and international consequences for the relationship. The article further contributes to work on unpredictability in international relations (IR), and on leadership personalities and foreign policy.

The Political Quarterly, 2019

Since 2016, the UK government has outlined plans for ‘Global Britain’ as a framework for post‐Bre... more Since 2016, the UK government has outlined plans for ‘Global Britain’ as a framework for post‐Brexit foreign policy. Some criticise the idea as a vision of ‘Empire 2.0’, but it is rarely made clear exactly what form it takes or what its wider political implications are. This article argues that Global Britain constitutes not just an idea or a slogan, but a foreign policy narrative and, more specifically, the narrative of empire. Indeed, to appear reasonable its grand ambitions require pre‐existing knowledges of past imperial ‘successes’ and accepting images of empire among the British public. Yet Global Britain lacks efficacy: as a domestic rather than an international narrative, by being inherently regressive in its worldview, and for contradicting the preferences of international partners on which the UK heavily relies. These narrative flaws, it is argued, make Global Britain an actively problematic, rather than merely ineffective, component of UK foreign policy.

Cambridge Review of International Affairs , 2019

Scholars debate the ambitions and policies of today’s ‘rising powers’ and the extent to which the... more Scholars debate the ambitions and policies of today’s ‘rising powers’ and
the extent to which they are revising or upholding the international status quo. While elements of the relevant literature provide valuable insight, this article argues that the concepts of revisionism and the status quo within mainstream International Relations (IR) have always constituted deeply rooted, autobiographical narratives of a traditionally Western-dominated discipline. As ‘ordering narratives’ of morality and progress, they constrain and organize debate so that revisionism is typically conceived not merely as disruption, but as disruption from the non-West amidst a fundamentally moral Western order that represents civilizational progress. This often makes them inherently problematic and unreliable descriptors of the actors and behaviours they are
designed to explain. After exploring the formations and development of these concepts throughout the IR tradition, the analysis is directed towards narratives around the contemporary ‘rise’ of China. Both scholarly and wider political narratives typically tell the story of revisionist challenges China presents to a US/Western-led status quo,
promoting unduly binary divisions between the West and non-West, and tensions and suspicions in the international realm. The aim must be to develop a new language and logic that recognize the contingent, autobiographical nature of ‘revisionist’ and ‘status quo’ actors and behaviours.

Asia Europe Journal , 2018

This article explores the UK’s foreign policy “pivot” to Asia, a decade after its tentative begin... more This article explores the UK’s foreign policy “pivot” to Asia, a decade after its tentative beginnings. This pivot is understood to be Britain’s planned redirection of attention and resources to Asia which emerged gradually from around 2007/2008, before intensifying from 2010. It is argued that the pivot has been evident across distinctive phases and political, economic and security dimensions, while lacking organisation, clarity and purpose, leaving it partial and incomplete. Examined are the motivations for the pivot and the forms it has taken, its accomplishments and ultimately what the pivot reveals about the role and influence the UK claims in Asia today. It is shown that in its key trade and investment aims, the pivot has achieved mixed results, doing little to enhance the UK’s position as a tertiary-level partner of Asia. However, Britain’s agency and importance is best explained not by its quantities, but its qualities, of power, occupying the regional roles of “subcontractor” and “facilitator”. Finally, the article looks to Britain’s future in Asia. Exiting the EU would likely see the UK retain its status of subcontractor, while its ability to act as facilitator would almost certainly diminish. The article concludes by arguing that, despite the rhetoric of the pivot, Britain’s presence in Asia will never be defined by its quantities of material power, and that it should work to sustain the qualities of power on which its regional presence is built.

Geopolitics , 2016

The US rebalance to the Asia Pacific is consistently interpreted as a response to China’s materia... more The US rebalance to the Asia Pacific is consistently interpreted as a response to China’s material rise. While not entirely incorrect, this assumption – derived from an overriding faith in the explanatory significance of relative state capabilities – fails to explain why rapidly rising others, most notably India, remain absent from regional US security discourse, and why a heavy US presence in Asia predates China’s ascent of the 1970s onwards. To address these problems and offer an improved explanation of what the rebalance is, how and why it has come about, and what it is designed to achieve within the context of China’s rise, this analysis draws from critical geopolitics and postcolonial theory. It argues that the rebalance is best conceived as the (re)articulation of historical discourses which construct certain foreign Others like China as challenges to the ontological American self, making the rebalance an attempt to pacify a particular rising identity as much as a rising state actor. The analysis is motivated in part by the question of how the rebalance is enabled in its current form. From here, the article addresses an increasing yet regressive tendency of International Relations theory to deny studies of the ‘how possible’ explanatory value, encouraging their marginalisation in favour of examinations into ‘why’ political decisions are made.

European Journal of International Relations, 2017

Neoconservatism in US foreign policy is a hotly contested subject, yet most scholars broadly agre... more Neoconservatism in US foreign policy is a hotly contested subject, yet most scholars broadly agree on what it is and where it comes from. From a consensus that it first emerged around the 1960s, these scholars view neoconservatism through what we call the ‘3Ps’ approach, defining it as a particular group of people (‘neocons’), an array of foreign policy preferences and/or an ideological commitment to a set of principles. While descriptively intuitive, this approach reifies neoconservatism in terms of its specific and often static ‘symptoms’ rather than its dynamic constitutions. These reifications may reveal what is emblematic of neoconservatism in its particular historical and political context, but they fail to offer deeper insights into what is constitutive of neoconservatism. Addressing this neglected question, this article dislodges neoconservatism from its perceived home in the ‘3Ps’ and ontologically redefines it as a discourse. Adopting a Foucauldian approach of archaeological and genealogical discourse analysis, we trace its discursive formations primarily to two powerful and historically enduring discourses of the American self — virtue and power — and illustrate how these discourses produce a particular type of discursive fusion that is ‘neoconservatism’. We argue that to better appreciate its continued effect on contemporary and future US foreign policy, we need to pay close attention to those seemingly innocuous yet deeply embedded discourses about the US and its place in the world, as well as to the people, policies and principles conventionally associated with neoconservatism.

Third World Quarterly , 2013

This article examines the modern day role and purpose of the UN Special Committee on Decolonizati... more This article examines the modern day role and purpose of the UN Special Committee on Decolonization. Since its establishment in the 1960s the Committee has helped numerable former colonies achieve independence. Today, with very few ‘colonised’ Non-Self-Governing Territories remaining its work appears almost complete. However, serious flaws have always pervaded its decolonisation strategy which are now more apparent than ever. The Committee retains narrow and outdated understandings of colonialism and, as a result, fails to recognise how widespread and pervasive global colonial forces remain. This makes its goal of universal decolonisation both unsatisfactory and misguided. The Committee’s problematic approach towards decolonisation stems from its participation within the ‘North–South Theatre’ in which antagonism is perpetuated between the world’s developed and less eveloped states. The paper argues that the Committee has not prioritised colonised peoples in the way it has always claimed, but instead worked principally in the interests of itself and its members.

Review of International Studies , Feb 2013

China's increasing capabilities are a central focus of modern day US security concerns. The Inter... more China's increasing capabilities are a central focus of modern day US security concerns. The International Relations literature is a key forum for analyses of the so-called ‘China threat’ and yet it remains relatively quiet on the role of ideas in the construction and perpetuation of the dangers that country is understood to present. This article reveals that throughout history ‘threats’ from China towards the United States, rather than objectively verifiable phenomena, have always been social constructions of American design and thus more than calculations of material forces. Specifically, it argues that powerful and pervasive American representations of China have been repeatedly and purposefully responsible for creating a threatening identity. It also demonstrates that these representations have enabled and justified US China policies which themselves have reaffirmed the identities of both China and the United States, protecting the latter when seemingly threatened by the former. Three case studies from across the full duration of Sino-American relations expose the centrality of ideas to historical and contemporary understandings of China ‘threats’, and to the American foreign policies formulated in response.

""Throughout the relevant literatures American imagery of China has been consistently misreprese... more ""Throughout the relevant literatures American imagery of China
has been consistently misrepresented and underestimated. Specifically, that imagery has been predominantly conceived in relatively superficial terms, as overtly positive or negative attitudes and opinions vulnerable to shifts at given moments. The
significance of that imagery to US China policy has also been largely ignored. The aim of this paper is to re-evaluate American images of China so that they may be acknowledged as inextricable from discourse and identity processes and with the
capacity to endure a cross extended periods of time. Further, it
is to demonstrate that those images have always been actively complicit within the enactment and justification of US China policy. To achieve this joint aim three historical moments in
Sino-US relations are examined. During each of these moments it is shown that the particular image of ‘Uncivilised China’ has remained especially prominent within American imaginations,
ultimately proving central to policy making decisions in Washington. ""

China has been a major power for far longer than is typically acknowledged in the West. This pape... more China has been a major power for far longer than is typically acknowledged in the West. This paper seeks to redress established discourse of China as a ‘rising’ power which now enjoys common usage within Western policy-making, academic and popular circles, particularly within the United States; China can more accurately be conceived of as a ‘recovering power’. A tendency by successive Washington administrations to view the world in realist terms has forced the label of ‘rising’ power onto China along with the negative connotations that inevitably follow. We should acknowledge the folly in utilising a theoretical approach largely devoid of any appreciation for the social and human dimensions of international relations as well as the importance of social discourse in the field. Finally, policy makers in Washington must reconsider their realist stance and, with a fuller appreciation of world history, recognise that American hegemony was always destined to be short-lived.

Books by Oliver Turner

Manchester University Press, 2020

This edited collection examines the political, economic and security legacies of former US Presid... more This edited collection examines the political, economic and security legacies of former US President Barack Obama in Asia and the Pacific, following two terms in office between 2009 and 2017. In a region that has only become more vivid in the American political imagination since Obama left office, this volume interrogates the endurance of Obama's legacies in what is increasingly reimagined in Washington as the Indo-Pacific. Advancing our understanding of Obama's style, influence and impact throughout the region, this volume explores dimensions of US relations and interactions with key Indo-Pacific states including China, India, Japan, North Korea and Australia; multilateral institutions and organisations such the East Asia Summit and ASEAN; and salient issue areas such as regional security, politics and diplomacy, and the economy.

How far has the Trump administration progressed in challenging or disrupting Obama's Pivot to Asia? What differences can we discern in the declared or effective US strategy towards Asia and to what extent has it radically shifted or displaced Obama-era legacies? Including contributions from high-profile scholars and policy practitioners such as Michael Mastanduno, Bruce Cumings, Maryanne Kelton, Robert Sutter and Sumit Ganguly, contributors examine these questions at the halfway point of the 2017-21 Presidency of Donald Trump, as his administration opens a new and potentially divergent chapter of American internationalism.

The United States and China are arguably the most globally consequential actors of the early twen... more The United States and China are arguably the most globally consequential actors of the early twenty first century, and look set to remain so into the foreseeable future. This volume seeks to highlight that American images of China are responsible for constructing certain truths and realities about that country and its people. It also introduces the understanding that these images have always been inextricable from the enactment and justification of US China policies in Washington, and that those policies themselves are active in the production and reproduction of imagery and in the protection of American identity when seemingly threatened by that of China.

Demonstrating how past American images of China are vital to understanding the nature and significance of those which circulate today, Turner addresses three key questions:

What have been the dominant American images of China and the Chinese across the full lifespan of Sino-US relations?

How have historical and contemporary American images of China and the Chinese enabled and justified US China policy?

What role does US China policy play in the production and reproduction of American images of China?

Exploring and evaluating a wide-ranging variety of sources including films and television programmes, newspaper and magazine articles, the records and journals of politicians and diplomats and governmental documents including speeches and legal declarations this work will be of great interest to students and scholars of US foreign policy, American politics, China studies and international relations.

Book Reviews by Oliver Turner

Book Chapters by Oliver Turner

Turner, O. and Parmar, I. (eds.) The United States in the Indo-Pacific: Obama's Legacy and the Trump Transition (Manchester University Press)., 2020

International Organization and Global Governance, second edition, 2018

In today’s affluent world almost one-third of the human population experiences some form of pover... more In today’s affluent world almost one-third of the human population experiences some form of poverty. Around 795 million people—only a little less than the populations of the United States and European Union (EU) combined—suffer from chronic hunger and nearly 663 million people have no access to safe drinking water. More than 300,000
women die every year during pregnancy or childbirth. In the thirty minutes it takes to read this chapter, approximately 330 children under the age of five will have died, mostly from readily preventable causes. Every day around the world hundreds of millions of people are denied the opportunity to lead a secure and productive life, but it does not have to be this way. Humanity has developed the technology and accumulated the resources to satisfy the basic needs of all. Food, education, healthcare services, and others could be provided if our world were organized differently. In short, poverty can be reduced if tackled more effectively through the structures of global governance.

This chapter traces the key developments in US-China relations throughout the two-term presidency... more This chapter traces the key developments in US-China relations throughout the two-term presidency of Barack Obama, along with the approaches adopted in Washington designed to manage that relationship. It is argued that the lack of significant deviation in post-Cold War US China policy points to the overall lack of a discernible ‘Obama Doctrine’ towards China. It is shown that China recaptured a more prominent place in American imaginations around the time of Obama’s election in 2008, as attention was purposefully diverted away from the Bush administration’s ‘War on Terror’. Moreover, the sense of ‘Hope’ Obama inspired during his election campaign, which endured throughout the first months and years of his presidency, was reflected in his early dealings with Beijing. Over the course of Obama’s time in Office however tensions returned over such familiar issue areas as Tibet and Taiwan, along with those more unique to the contemporary global environment such as climate change and cybersecurity. The broad absence of an Obama Doctrine and continuation of cautious engagement is explained in part by the pragmatic need for Washington to retain cooperative relations with an increasingly wealthy and powerful state actor. In addition however it is explained by the changing patterns and structures of contemporary global power and its dispersal away from the nation state, which have limited the range of more radical options and which will almost certainly continue to impact Obama’s immediate successor.

Foreign Policy Analysis , 2022

This article reintegrates the frontier into debates about contemporary global affairs. Its analyt... more This article reintegrates the frontier into debates about contemporary global affairs. Its analytical focus is the United States, because despite widespread agreement that it constitutes a “frontier nation,” we lack clear explanations of what the American frontier is today and what role(s) it occupies in US politics and foreign policy. To resolve this, the article ontologically reconceptualizes the frontier, arguing that it first constitutes a narrative, rather than a spatial, construct. Instead of conquering a once self-evident frontier, the United States has a long-standing tradition of narrative “frontiering” as the ideational (re)production of frontiers. The frontier has been most consistently understood not in terms of territory but ideas, with Washington's modern-day “frontiers of freedom”—notably in the Asia Pacific—as real and consequential as those of the past. The frontier-as-narrative represents a performative act about what the United States is and how it should engage at peripheral borderlands of its identity. Beyond the United States, frontiers are created and actioned anew to reshape international affairs.

Cambridge Review of International Affairs , 2021

It is often noted that former US President Donald Trump brought unpredictability to Washington's ... more It is often noted that former US President Donald Trump brought unpredictability to Washington's relationship with China. This may appear intuitively true, but in what ways was Trump actually 'unpredictable' towards China? We show that the most unpredictable feature of Trump's approach was his rhetoric, strongly defined by impulsivity, emotion and provocation. This generated rhetorical unpredictability which was regularly seen in inconsistent and contradictory statements. Using political psychology and leadership personality approaches, we further demonstrate that this unpredictable rhetoric can be traced to Trump's psychological profile. We argue that while the composition of Trump's China rhetoric was often difficult to anticipate, as a component of his US China policy it was predictable to the extent that it was grounded in his personality. Trumpian China policy broadly followed longer-term trends, but the president's erratic rhetoric had domestic and international consequences for the relationship. The article further contributes to work on unpredictability in international relations (IR), and on leadership personalities and foreign policy.

The Political Quarterly, 2019

Since 2016, the UK government has outlined plans for ‘Global Britain’ as a framework for post‐Bre... more Since 2016, the UK government has outlined plans for ‘Global Britain’ as a framework for post‐Brexit foreign policy. Some criticise the idea as a vision of ‘Empire 2.0’, but it is rarely made clear exactly what form it takes or what its wider political implications are. This article argues that Global Britain constitutes not just an idea or a slogan, but a foreign policy narrative and, more specifically, the narrative of empire. Indeed, to appear reasonable its grand ambitions require pre‐existing knowledges of past imperial ‘successes’ and accepting images of empire among the British public. Yet Global Britain lacks efficacy: as a domestic rather than an international narrative, by being inherently regressive in its worldview, and for contradicting the preferences of international partners on which the UK heavily relies. These narrative flaws, it is argued, make Global Britain an actively problematic, rather than merely ineffective, component of UK foreign policy.

Cambridge Review of International Affairs , 2019

Scholars debate the ambitions and policies of today’s ‘rising powers’ and the extent to which the... more Scholars debate the ambitions and policies of today’s ‘rising powers’ and
the extent to which they are revising or upholding the international status quo. While elements of the relevant literature provide valuable insight, this article argues that the concepts of revisionism and the status quo within mainstream International Relations (IR) have always constituted deeply rooted, autobiographical narratives of a traditionally Western-dominated discipline. As ‘ordering narratives’ of morality and progress, they constrain and organize debate so that revisionism is typically conceived not merely as disruption, but as disruption from the non-West amidst a fundamentally moral Western order that represents civilizational progress. This often makes them inherently problematic and unreliable descriptors of the actors and behaviours they are
designed to explain. After exploring the formations and development of these concepts throughout the IR tradition, the analysis is directed towards narratives around the contemporary ‘rise’ of China. Both scholarly and wider political narratives typically tell the story of revisionist challenges China presents to a US/Western-led status quo,
promoting unduly binary divisions between the West and non-West, and tensions and suspicions in the international realm. The aim must be to develop a new language and logic that recognize the contingent, autobiographical nature of ‘revisionist’ and ‘status quo’ actors and behaviours.

Asia Europe Journal , 2018

This article explores the UK’s foreign policy “pivot” to Asia, a decade after its tentative begin... more This article explores the UK’s foreign policy “pivot” to Asia, a decade after its tentative beginnings. This pivot is understood to be Britain’s planned redirection of attention and resources to Asia which emerged gradually from around 2007/2008, before intensifying from 2010. It is argued that the pivot has been evident across distinctive phases and political, economic and security dimensions, while lacking organisation, clarity and purpose, leaving it partial and incomplete. Examined are the motivations for the pivot and the forms it has taken, its accomplishments and ultimately what the pivot reveals about the role and influence the UK claims in Asia today. It is shown that in its key trade and investment aims, the pivot has achieved mixed results, doing little to enhance the UK’s position as a tertiary-level partner of Asia. However, Britain’s agency and importance is best explained not by its quantities, but its qualities, of power, occupying the regional roles of “subcontractor” and “facilitator”. Finally, the article looks to Britain’s future in Asia. Exiting the EU would likely see the UK retain its status of subcontractor, while its ability to act as facilitator would almost certainly diminish. The article concludes by arguing that, despite the rhetoric of the pivot, Britain’s presence in Asia will never be defined by its quantities of material power, and that it should work to sustain the qualities of power on which its regional presence is built.

Geopolitics , 2016

The US rebalance to the Asia Pacific is consistently interpreted as a response to China’s materia... more The US rebalance to the Asia Pacific is consistently interpreted as a response to China’s material rise. While not entirely incorrect, this assumption – derived from an overriding faith in the explanatory significance of relative state capabilities – fails to explain why rapidly rising others, most notably India, remain absent from regional US security discourse, and why a heavy US presence in Asia predates China’s ascent of the 1970s onwards. To address these problems and offer an improved explanation of what the rebalance is, how and why it has come about, and what it is designed to achieve within the context of China’s rise, this analysis draws from critical geopolitics and postcolonial theory. It argues that the rebalance is best conceived as the (re)articulation of historical discourses which construct certain foreign Others like China as challenges to the ontological American self, making the rebalance an attempt to pacify a particular rising identity as much as a rising state actor. The analysis is motivated in part by the question of how the rebalance is enabled in its current form. From here, the article addresses an increasing yet regressive tendency of International Relations theory to deny studies of the ‘how possible’ explanatory value, encouraging their marginalisation in favour of examinations into ‘why’ political decisions are made.

European Journal of International Relations, 2017

Neoconservatism in US foreign policy is a hotly contested subject, yet most scholars broadly agre... more Neoconservatism in US foreign policy is a hotly contested subject, yet most scholars broadly agree on what it is and where it comes from. From a consensus that it first emerged around the 1960s, these scholars view neoconservatism through what we call the ‘3Ps’ approach, defining it as a particular group of people (‘neocons’), an array of foreign policy preferences and/or an ideological commitment to a set of principles. While descriptively intuitive, this approach reifies neoconservatism in terms of its specific and often static ‘symptoms’ rather than its dynamic constitutions. These reifications may reveal what is emblematic of neoconservatism in its particular historical and political context, but they fail to offer deeper insights into what is constitutive of neoconservatism. Addressing this neglected question, this article dislodges neoconservatism from its perceived home in the ‘3Ps’ and ontologically redefines it as a discourse. Adopting a Foucauldian approach of archaeological and genealogical discourse analysis, we trace its discursive formations primarily to two powerful and historically enduring discourses of the American self — virtue and power — and illustrate how these discourses produce a particular type of discursive fusion that is ‘neoconservatism’. We argue that to better appreciate its continued effect on contemporary and future US foreign policy, we need to pay close attention to those seemingly innocuous yet deeply embedded discourses about the US and its place in the world, as well as to the people, policies and principles conventionally associated with neoconservatism.

Third World Quarterly , 2013

This article examines the modern day role and purpose of the UN Special Committee on Decolonizati... more This article examines the modern day role and purpose of the UN Special Committee on Decolonization. Since its establishment in the 1960s the Committee has helped numerable former colonies achieve independence. Today, with very few ‘colonised’ Non-Self-Governing Territories remaining its work appears almost complete. However, serious flaws have always pervaded its decolonisation strategy which are now more apparent than ever. The Committee retains narrow and outdated understandings of colonialism and, as a result, fails to recognise how widespread and pervasive global colonial forces remain. This makes its goal of universal decolonisation both unsatisfactory and misguided. The Committee’s problematic approach towards decolonisation stems from its participation within the ‘North–South Theatre’ in which antagonism is perpetuated between the world’s developed and less eveloped states. The paper argues that the Committee has not prioritised colonised peoples in the way it has always claimed, but instead worked principally in the interests of itself and its members.

Review of International Studies , Feb 2013

China's increasing capabilities are a central focus of modern day US security concerns. The Inter... more China's increasing capabilities are a central focus of modern day US security concerns. The International Relations literature is a key forum for analyses of the so-called ‘China threat’ and yet it remains relatively quiet on the role of ideas in the construction and perpetuation of the dangers that country is understood to present. This article reveals that throughout history ‘threats’ from China towards the United States, rather than objectively verifiable phenomena, have always been social constructions of American design and thus more than calculations of material forces. Specifically, it argues that powerful and pervasive American representations of China have been repeatedly and purposefully responsible for creating a threatening identity. It also demonstrates that these representations have enabled and justified US China policies which themselves have reaffirmed the identities of both China and the United States, protecting the latter when seemingly threatened by the former. Three case studies from across the full duration of Sino-American relations expose the centrality of ideas to historical and contemporary understandings of China ‘threats’, and to the American foreign policies formulated in response.

""Throughout the relevant literatures American imagery of China has been consistently misreprese... more ""Throughout the relevant literatures American imagery of China
has been consistently misrepresented and underestimated. Specifically, that imagery has been predominantly conceived in relatively superficial terms, as overtly positive or negative attitudes and opinions vulnerable to shifts at given moments. The
significance of that imagery to US China policy has also been largely ignored. The aim of this paper is to re-evaluate American images of China so that they may be acknowledged as inextricable from discourse and identity processes and with the
capacity to endure a cross extended periods of time. Further, it
is to demonstrate that those images have always been actively complicit within the enactment and justification of US China policy. To achieve this joint aim three historical moments in
Sino-US relations are examined. During each of these moments it is shown that the particular image of ‘Uncivilised China’ has remained especially prominent within American imaginations,
ultimately proving central to policy making decisions in Washington. ""

China has been a major power for far longer than is typically acknowledged in the West. This pape... more China has been a major power for far longer than is typically acknowledged in the West. This paper seeks to redress established discourse of China as a ‘rising’ power which now enjoys common usage within Western policy-making, academic and popular circles, particularly within the United States; China can more accurately be conceived of as a ‘recovering power’. A tendency by successive Washington administrations to view the world in realist terms has forced the label of ‘rising’ power onto China along with the negative connotations that inevitably follow. We should acknowledge the folly in utilising a theoretical approach largely devoid of any appreciation for the social and human dimensions of international relations as well as the importance of social discourse in the field. Finally, policy makers in Washington must reconsider their realist stance and, with a fuller appreciation of world history, recognise that American hegemony was always destined to be short-lived.

Manchester University Press, 2020

This edited collection examines the political, economic and security legacies of former US Presid... more This edited collection examines the political, economic and security legacies of former US President Barack Obama in Asia and the Pacific, following two terms in office between 2009 and 2017. In a region that has only become more vivid in the American political imagination since Obama left office, this volume interrogates the endurance of Obama's legacies in what is increasingly reimagined in Washington as the Indo-Pacific. Advancing our understanding of Obama's style, influence and impact throughout the region, this volume explores dimensions of US relations and interactions with key Indo-Pacific states including China, India, Japan, North Korea and Australia; multilateral institutions and organisations such the East Asia Summit and ASEAN; and salient issue areas such as regional security, politics and diplomacy, and the economy.

How far has the Trump administration progressed in challenging or disrupting Obama's Pivot to Asia? What differences can we discern in the declared or effective US strategy towards Asia and to what extent has it radically shifted or displaced Obama-era legacies? Including contributions from high-profile scholars and policy practitioners such as Michael Mastanduno, Bruce Cumings, Maryanne Kelton, Robert Sutter and Sumit Ganguly, contributors examine these questions at the halfway point of the 2017-21 Presidency of Donald Trump, as his administration opens a new and potentially divergent chapter of American internationalism.

The United States and China are arguably the most globally consequential actors of the early twen... more The United States and China are arguably the most globally consequential actors of the early twenty first century, and look set to remain so into the foreseeable future. This volume seeks to highlight that American images of China are responsible for constructing certain truths and realities about that country and its people. It also introduces the understanding that these images have always been inextricable from the enactment and justification of US China policies in Washington, and that those policies themselves are active in the production and reproduction of imagery and in the protection of American identity when seemingly threatened by that of China.

Demonstrating how past American images of China are vital to understanding the nature and significance of those which circulate today, Turner addresses three key questions:

What have been the dominant American images of China and the Chinese across the full lifespan of Sino-US relations?

How have historical and contemporary American images of China and the Chinese enabled and justified US China policy?

What role does US China policy play in the production and reproduction of American images of China?

Exploring and evaluating a wide-ranging variety of sources including films and television programmes, newspaper and magazine articles, the records and journals of politicians and diplomats and governmental documents including speeches and legal declarations this work will be of great interest to students and scholars of US foreign policy, American politics, China studies and international relations.

Turner, O. and Parmar, I. (eds.) The United States in the Indo-Pacific: Obama's Legacy and the Trump Transition (Manchester University Press)., 2020

International Organization and Global Governance, second edition, 2018

In today’s affluent world almost one-third of the human population experiences some form of pover... more In today’s affluent world almost one-third of the human population experiences some form of poverty. Around 795 million people—only a little less than the populations of the United States and European Union (EU) combined—suffer from chronic hunger and nearly 663 million people have no access to safe drinking water. More than 300,000
women die every year during pregnancy or childbirth. In the thirty minutes it takes to read this chapter, approximately 330 children under the age of five will have died, mostly from readily preventable causes. Every day around the world hundreds of millions of people are denied the opportunity to lead a secure and productive life, but it does not have to be this way. Humanity has developed the technology and accumulated the resources to satisfy the basic needs of all. Food, education, healthcare services, and others could be provided if our world were organized differently. In short, poverty can be reduced if tackled more effectively through the structures of global governance.

This chapter traces the key developments in US-China relations throughout the two-term presidency... more This chapter traces the key developments in US-China relations throughout the two-term presidency of Barack Obama, along with the approaches adopted in Washington designed to manage that relationship. It is argued that the lack of significant deviation in post-Cold War US China policy points to the overall lack of a discernible ‘Obama Doctrine’ towards China. It is shown that China recaptured a more prominent place in American imaginations around the time of Obama’s election in 2008, as attention was purposefully diverted away from the Bush administration’s ‘War on Terror’. Moreover, the sense of ‘Hope’ Obama inspired during his election campaign, which endured throughout the first months and years of his presidency, was reflected in his early dealings with Beijing. Over the course of Obama’s time in Office however tensions returned over such familiar issue areas as Tibet and Taiwan, along with those more unique to the contemporary global environment such as climate change and cybersecurity. The broad absence of an Obama Doctrine and continuation of cautious engagement is explained in part by the pragmatic need for Washington to retain cooperative relations with an increasingly wealthy and powerful state actor. In addition however it is explained by the changing patterns and structures of contemporary global power and its dispersal away from the nation state, which have limited the range of more radical options and which will almost certainly continue to impact Obama’s immediate successor.

The Diplomat, 2018

Twelve months ago in December 2017, at the time of the ninth EFD, the British government heralded... more Twelve months ago in December 2017, at the time of the ninth EFD, the British government heralded a “new phase” in its so-called Golden Era of relations with China, with agreements to cooperate more closely in such arenas as financial services, trade, and investment. The notion of a Golden Era in U.K.-China relations was coined by the government under former Prime Minister David Cameron, to promote Chinese President Xi Jinping’s lavish state visit to the U.K. in 2015. The “Golden Era” had already seen high-profile trips by British delegations to China in 2010 and 2013, and Chinese delegations to the U.K. in 2011 and 2014. In 2015, up to 40 billion pounds sterling (roughly $50 billion) of deals between the U.K. and China were announced. The two countries were to form a “global comprehensive strategic partnership,” with the U.K. representing China’s “best partner in the West.” What has happened to that grand, ambitious vision? And what does the U.K.’s possible exit from the European Union auger for the future?

In the United States, Democratic and Republican candidates are sparring for the prize of formal n... more In the United States, Democratic and Republican candidates are sparring for the prize of formal nomination for the 2016 presidential election. Few, if any, presidential elections in US
history have been won or lost over China, even in the modern era. The elections of 2004 and 2008 for example were respectively defined in large part by the War on Terror and the financial and economic crash. China featured somewhat more prominently in 2012, and while other international issues such as the continuing turmoil in the Middle East will be strongly debated, its presence will likely be heavier still in 2016. The reasons why American politicians and voters are so concerned about China’s economic and military ‘rise’ may appear obvious, but the logic is worth questioning. This is because the China being debated even at this early stage of the 2016 presidential elections is surrounded by a number of curiosities and contradictions. In this case, what can we read into how China is currently being — and is still to be — represented in the build up to the election of 2016?