On the morning of January 9th, 2019, the launch of “Changes in Turmoil: Fudan International Strategic Report 2018” officially unveiled its debut in the ceremony moderated by Professor WU Xinbo, Dean of the Institute of International Studies and Director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University. 

The year 2018 witnessed innumerable successions of upheavals and amorphous status hanging over the global political arena. U.S. President Trump’s “America First” approach to foreign policy radically hastens entanglements within the ever-changing international political configuration, renders overarching shockwaves onwards. Uninterrupted repercussions impel the countries of the world unanimously to commence reflections on aligning specific countermeasures with emerging concerns in the due course of opting for headways overtured by “wait-and-see” or “ponderable” facets.

What’s explicated in-between the lines of the report communes the turbulent landscape unleashed with closely ties to the United States. In the global context mingled with the impact triggered by the Trump administration’s approach to diplomacy, the international community urge to take concerted initiatives in conformity with the objectives towards resolution of hotspot issues. Major political and economic powers including China, Russia, Japan, EU either pledge to stand up for the institutions and principles of multilateralism and free trade, or positively facilitate relevant bilateral and multilateral free trade deals, pursuing to lessen reliance on the U.S. financial sectors, strengthening defense cooperation among member states, with regard to which emphatically display the fundamentals and essentials of self-reliant, enterprising as well as continuous improvement in “The Post-American Era”.

Ongoing turbulent times herald the dramatic clouts and disruptive effects brought forth with the Trump administration’s foreign policy, whilst the 2020 U.S. presidential election approaches, meddled with Democratic candidates’ vying for the potential path to the White House, President Trump strives for a second term of office in full swing on the diplomatic front, perpetuating the current status quo even further. Vicissitudes remain to proceed onwards, reserving ample scopes for mediating negotiations interposed, allows the corresponding attempts in seeking the establishment of strategic partnerships and intensification of coordinative endeavors via adopting “cluster-based countermeasures” or “hedging strategies” concerning inextricable linkages and interdependence as prioritized means in the confrontation with the increasingly unpredictable America and the ever-complicated world scaling in uncertainties as a whole, thereby prompting the new round of adjustments in restructuring to take shape amidst the international political system. The complexity and volatility of the current international situation entails upholding envisions with composure, harboring optimistic mindset and proactive demeanors whilst striving for accomplishments with pragmaticism which characterizes China’s diplomacy.

“Changes in Turmoil: Fudan International Strategic Report 2018” features 13 thematic monographs from a broad range of perspectives: “International Political Landscape: Seeking Changes in Turmoil” by Professor XIN Qiang, “The World Economy: Escalating Uncertainties?” by Professor SONG Guoyou, “Chinese Diplomacy: Stabilizing Neighboring Relations and Promoting Opening-up” by Professor LIN Minwang, “U.S.: The ‘Trump’ Turmoil” by Professor WU Xinbo, “Russia: Back to Pragmatism” by Professor FENG Yujun, “The European Malaise: Old Rules Falling Apart, New Ones on the Way” by Professor DING Chun, “China-Japan relations: Turnaround and Progress with Twists” by Professor HU Lingyuan, “India: From ‘Pulling Chestnuts out of the Fire’ to ‘Balancing for Survival’ ” by Professor ZHANG Jiadong and Associate Professor ZHANG Jiegen, “The Korean Peninsula: New Situations and New opportunities” and “DPRK: Towards a 'New Concerted' Path” by Professor ZHENG Jiyong, “Middle East: Confrontation, Stalemate and Imbalance” by Professor LIU Zhongmin (Shanghai International Studies University), “.Southeast Asia: New Diplomatic Adjustment under the Sino-U.S. Competition” by Associate Professor QI Huaigao, “Indo-Pacific Strategy: How far Can It Go?” by Professor WEI Zongyou. Multi-dimensional insights expound in the annual Fudan International Strategic Report to substantively decode major hotspot international issues in the evolving global context, elaborating on the interactive roles and strategic gaming underneath the panorama, conducive to further unfolding the vicissitudes of the global political and economic landscapes, inspiring the public to comprehend and grasp the revelations in light of the evolving trends and future-oriented prospects which derive from the frameworks of international relations by dint of the integrated approach.

Fudan International Strategic Report (2018).pdf