We are deeply grateful to the Ford Foundation for its generous financial support for this project, without which its completion and publication would have been almost impossible. We also want to express our heartfelt gratitude for the support provided by the School of International Studies at Renmin University of China and the two workshops it convened for this project, the first in December 2003 and the second during the summer of 2004. The brainstorm and discussion during these sessions contributed greatly to our understanding of the subject. We want to thank numerous Chinese and American colleagues and friends who have shared their views during the sessions and over the past two years on Chinese foreign policy making. We also acknowledge the support provided by the Faculty Research Council of Colgate University for Yufan Hao in his research during the last three years, and want to thank several student research assistants at Colgate University, who have participated in this project at various stages. Special thanks are also due to Sarah Horsley, our editor at Ashgate, whose efforts have contributed to the timely publication of the book.