Table of Contents

List of Figures and TablesPrefaceNote on Translation and RomanizationCh. 1Introduction3Ch. 2Grand Strategy, National Political Power, and Two-Level Foreign Policy Analysis11Ch. 3Moderate Strategies and Crusading Rhetoric: Truman Mobilizes for a Bipolar World32Ch. 4Absent at the Creation: Acheson's Decision to Forgo Relations with the Chinese Communists77Ch. 5The Real Lost Chance in China: Nonrecognition, Taiwan, and the Disaster at the Yalu138Ch. 6Continuing Conflict over Taiwan: Mao, the Great Leap Forward, and the 1958 Quemoy Crisis194Ch. 7Conclusion242App. AAmerican Public Opinion Polls, 1947-1950263App. BMao's Korean War Telegrams271Bibliography277Index305

About the Author

Thomas J. Christensen is currently Assistant Professor of Government at Cornell University. He formerly held an SSRC/MacArthur Foundation fellowship in international peace and security and was an Olin National Security Fellow at Harvard University.

Reviews

"[Christensen] makes a convincing and original argument that political leaders, in order to secure public support for their fundamental grand strategy, may have to adopt a more hostile foreign policy than they would prefer ... This volume is indispensable for anyone interested in Sino-American relations."--Foreign Affairs