In Toward a Good Society, authors Tianjia Dong and Dongxiao Qin theorize a mutually empowering and growth-fostering society. The authors first demonstrate the feasibility of this society by grounding it in the framework of relational psychology. Departing from there, they travel along nine paths reconstructed from nine classic social science theories. In each chapter, they respectively reconstruct and find ways to move beyond Durkheimian structural-functionalism, de Tocqueville's communalism, Mead's symbolic interactionism, Freud's psychoanalytic perspective, Simmel's network theory, Smith's "invisible hand", Marx's class theory, Hobbes's contractualism, and Weber's rational-legal formulation. This leads them to propose a new Golden Rule that is as simple as it is profound and foundational to what makes a good society.

The Cold War revealed, for the first time in human history, the logic of human togetherness, which indicated that it was not only necessary for nation-states to live together but also possible for them to do so. The necessity was because of the inescapably shared vulnerability of "mutually assured destruction," not only in terms of security but more so in economic well-being and political stability. The possibility was due to the unipolar world structure sustained by the global governance web of interdependent partnership which worked powerfully "between" the power agents to ensure the best of all possible world. This latent governance system was both hierarchical and dynamic because its power was "connective" in the sense that power was rooted in one another and the ability to be interdependent by empowering other power agents and sharing vulnerability at the same time was the way of becoming the "nucleus" on the global web of interdependent partners and hence gaining power in transforming one another connectively and governing the world collectively. George Kennan's patience in building up hard and soft powers "within" individual power agents of the web and Wilson/Roosevelt's institutionalization of collective power "above" each power agents contributed to the construction of the system. The Soviet big-brotherly governing type was proven a failure.

Understanding Power through Watergate uses the Watergate Affair as a case to highlight the Washington collective power dynamic. Author Tian-jia Dong argues that formal state institutions only work effectively when they are embedded in social dynamics. Academics in the fields of political science, American history, and sociology will find great interest in this book, as well as people involved in the political process. This work will also be a valuable supplement to graduate and undergraduate political science and sociology courses.

Social Reach examines the identity of global leadership and the impact it has on global governance. Realism focuses on strategic interests; idealism focuses on norms and values. However, the 'either my interest or my value' approach toward international relations is not compatible with the identity of a global leader. The essence of international relations is 'relationship, ' instead of interest or values. Tian-jia Dong proposes a connectivist perspective, which focuses on full-fledged connections through functional instrumentation and relational inclusion. Three logics--the logic of conquest, the logic of interdependence, and the logic of togetherness--are highlighted as the driving forces behind the dynamics of international relationship. Dong further illustrates two new concepts, 'connective authority' and 'connective democracy' as the guiding principles of global leadership and global governance

Understanding Power through Watergate uses the Watergate Affair as a case to highlight the Washington collective power dynamic. Author Tian-jia Dong argues that formal state institutions only work effectively when they are embedded in social dynamics. Academics in the fields of political science, American history, and sociology will find great interest in this book, as well as people involved in the political process. This work will also be a valuable supplement to graduate and undergraduate political science and sociology courses.