Francisco Leandro, researcher at the Iscte Centre for International Studies (CEI-Iscte) and associate professor at the University of Macau, has launched two new publications with Palgrave Macmillan, consolidating his contribution to the study of geopolitics and international relations, with a particular focus on China.
Is China a Global Power? The Three Great Walls of the Middle Kingdom (2025)
Published in 2025, this book presents an in-depth geopolitical analysis of contemporary China, framed within the perspective of defensive realism. The author questions the dominant narrative that classifies China as a global power, proposing an empirical-qualitative model for assessing its international status. The analysis is structured around four dimensions:
- The Great Wall of Technological and Economic Access (Material Power)
- The Great Wall of Cultural and Intangible Access (Intangible Power)
- The Great Wall of Political and Global Governance Access (Governance Power)
- An assessment of China’s comprehensive power capacity
Through observations on the ground, the author argues that China has a global vision and ambition, positioning itself as a global quasi-power. This book is essential reading for academics, policy-makers and anyone interested in the dynamics of the international system.
The Palgrave Handbook on China-Europe-Africa Relations (2024)
Published in 2024, this book offers a comprehensive approach to relations between China, Europe and Africa, placing this triangulation at the centre of the transformations of the emerging international order. Given China’s growing influence as the world’s second largest economy, the book analyses the strategic, economic and security foundations of its external relations with Europe and the African continent.
The book is structured in four parts, covering topics such as strategy, economics and security, with various case studies. The final section broadens the focus, also addressing multilateralism, the war in Ukraine, Covid-19, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the European Global Gateway, and the balance between great powers.