Columbia professor Andrew Nathan spoke at Carnegie Council in February 2013 about his new co-authored book, China's Search for Security.
In the excerpts found on the top right sidebar, Nathan answers the question: What does Beijing perceive to be China's largest security threats? He identifies "four rings of security concerns:" inside China's territory; its 24 surrounding countries; six regional systems; and the rest of the world. Students can explore his reasoning in more depth in these four short readings.
This activity works well in a global history, world history, or comparative government class.