DISSERTATION PROJECT

The Genesis of a Global “Community of Common Destiny” – A Conceptualization of Chinese Worldmaking

The concept of a ‘Community of Common Destiny’ has emerged in the Chinese discourse and created conceptions of the future as well as worlds of imagination (Vorstellungswelten) as this concept does not yet reflect global reality. Further research on the subject may help elucidate how discourse worlds (Diskurswelten), transnationally networked social actors, and specific contexts in different localities shape conceptions of future and world order. Being deeply integrated within global structures since China’s reform and opening period, China has developed significant discourse power at home and abroad.

This project asks the questions of how Chinese diplomacy has created the concept of a ‘Community with a Shared Future for Mankind’, which purposes it serves, and which developments in meaning this term has seen in China and abroad. The project will argue, that while the ‘Community of Common Destiny’ is a global concept applicable to the whole of humanity, it is of imagination and not of reality. Rather than fixed development paths, it constitutes a rewriting of world order. In particular, the concept of ‘Community of Common Destiny’ has a significant impact on China’s approach towards climate change and its stance on environmental sustainability as well as Global Health through the implementation of the Belt and Road initiative. The project thus aims to investigate the role of the concept in shaping China’s approach to global governance and its interactions with other nations, examining the influence of China’s governance model on other regions.

ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES

Publications

• with Richard J. COOK and Mateus BILHAR. “Exceptionalism and China: Deconstructing Zhongguo Fang’an as Chinese Solutions’, in: Najimdeen BAKARE (ed.), Clash of Exceptionalism in International Relations: Contemporary Dynamics and Impacts of US and China Exceptionalism on Global Affairs. London: Routledge 2026 (forthcoming). DOI: 10.4324/9781003665007-15
• with Richard J. COOK. “Governing radical uncertainty: Temporal superposition and the stability of world order projects”, in: Review of International Studies, 2026, 1–19. DOI: 10.1017/S0260210526102137
• “Germany After the Zeitenwende: Strategic Temporising as a Foreign Policy Implementation Failure”, in: German Politics, 2026, 1–22. DOI: 10.1080/09644008.2026.2724372
• “The Future as Politics: East Asia and World Order”, in: E-International Relations (online), May 25, 2026.
• with Richard J. COOK and Mateus BILHAR. “The visualisation of international relations: Using film as pedagogical scaffolding”, in: Politics 0(0), 2026, pp. 1–19. DOI: 10.1177/026339572614464
• “Democratisation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Digital Authoritarianism? China’s Large Language Model (LLM) Strategy and the Challenge to Western AI Dominance”, in: Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, 2026, pp. 1–24. DOI: 10.1177/18681026261434029.
• with Richard J. COOK and Mateus BILHAR. “Space Race 2.0: The Competition for the Future Operating System of Space”, in: The Diplomat (online), Feb 16, 2026.
• “Mutual Norm Socialization through Knowledge-Security Restrictions in Sino-German Academic Cooperation”, in: Asian Review of Political Economy 5(1), 2026, pp. 1–22. DOI: 10.1007/s44216-026-00072-0.

Presentations

• Presentation on research topic. Proposal Workshop, Research Training Group GRK 2833 “East Asian Futures”, Duisburg, Germany, Jun 13–15, 2024. [Poster]
• Two presentation sessions on the Research Training Group, his research topic and research design and methodology in social science. M.A. International Relations cohort (Prof. Yaohui WANG), Nankai University, Tianjin, China, Mar 31, 2025.
• “The Domestic-International Nexus of China’s Global Community of Shared Future (人类命运共同体)”. Workshop “East Asian Futures”, Nankai University, Tianjin, China, Nov 3, 2025.
• “Shaping the Future: The Global Community of Shared Future as Identity-Forming Construct or Sloganistic Narrative Strategy?”. 5th Conference on Asian Studies by the German Association of Asian Studies (DGA), Bonn University, Germany, Sep 10, 2025.
• Panel Organiser for “The Indo-Pacific’s Contested Future: Identity Formation, Domestic Politics and Conflict Prevention Amid China-US Strategic Competition”. 5th Conference on Asian Studies by the German Association of Asian Studies (DGA), Bonn University, Germany, Sep 10, 2025.
• “Authorized Ambiguity: The Domestic Production of China’s Community of Common Destiny (CCD)”. Preliminary Results & Proposal Workshop, Research Training Group GRK 2833 “East Asian Futures”, Bochum, Germany, Jul 1, 2026.
• “Superposed Futures: Performing Success and Failure in China’s Global Community of Shared Future”. 26th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies (EACS), Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy, Jul 23, 2026.

Funded excursions

• Oxford Spring School in Advanced Research Methods, “Qualitative Methods 1: Interviews & Fieldwork” course, conducted by Dr. Marnie Howlett (University of Oxford), University of Oxford, United Kingdom, Apr 8–12, 2024.