The authors of this book investigate one of the mostly hotly debated and significant questions of our times 'what role will China be playing in world politics over the next twenty years' by asking another controversial question 'is China's 'new' diplomacy a tactical or fundamental change?' Bringing together Chinese and Western scholars of diplomacy the book highlights the view that diplomacy is both an instrument of foreign policy and a learning and socialising process that fosters both positive and negative change and is an important indicator of China's future role. It further argues that there is little to suggest that China's new diplomacy has a tactical revisionist agenda; however it is too early to be sure that China's changed diplomacy is a fundamental one. Moreover, much will depend on the diplomacy of other major powers towards China and on China's domestic politics.