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The term "science diplomacy" has become widely used in recent years, especially in the developed economies of the "West". The term has also been adopted in China, where it has been incorporated into academic discussion and policy making in the area of international science and technology cooperation. However, science and technology have been an element in China's relations with the external world for many centuries, and moved centre stage in the relationship with the West since the 19th century. The success of China in creating scientific capacities in recent decades is the basis of the possibility for it to conduct its own science diplomacy. Yet, despite the adoption of the idea in recent government policy documents, it is unclear that a coherent new science diplomacy has emerged in China that is integrated into wider foreign policy. A question arises as to whether science diplomacy is still an emerging policy, or whether merely a marginal one. Many aspects of what is now called science diplomacy are continuations of China's existing international science policies, which focus on global competition as well as cooperation. While science diplomacy is frequently considered to be a tool of soft power, scientific and technological capacities underlie hard power. In an environment where global military and economic competition dominates, science diplomacy may be overtaken by harder power considerations.

This book closely scrutinizes the individual and collective roles played by China, the EU and the USA in contemporary world politics. Examining the three actors' respective strategic and policy positions on and behaviour towards the flux of the contemporary global order, the analysis focuses on three major issues and challenges: foreign and security policy; economics and trade; and climate change and energy. Discussing their relative power, as well as their interests, beliefs and positions on a set of decisive issues, this book explores bilateral relations between the three powers and the ways in which they may interact trilaterally in a broader global context to shape international politics.

The geopolitical implications of renewable energy involve changes beyond the immediate impact on energy and commodity streams. Energy policies of individual countries affect each other via different economic and political channels. This paper studies the role of renewable energy in EU-China relations, two leading powers in the field of renewable energy. Both polities have recently increased their individual ambitions towards decarbonisation of their domestic energy systems, and renewables play an increasingly important role in shaping their bilateral dealings. We therefore ask what influence renewable energy has on the relationship between both sides. To capture the effect, we employ the concept of policy interdependence in four areas related to renewable energy namely climate, energy, industry, and trade and investment policy. While these are often seen as separate fields, they are all related to renewable energy. Findings indicate that renewable energy has the potential to be a determinant of bilateral relations. Renewable energy contributed to greater alignment between the EU and China in the past, while increasing recourse to policy choices based on national priorities today creates obstacles to further cooperation. However, the patterns of policy interdependence identified in this study also suggest potential for renewed cooperation in the field of energy policy, depending on the capability of policymakers to see beyond the current structure of the bilateral relationship. ; publishedVersion