“…The other main scenario, one of co-optation, pictures a gradual adaptation and integration of China into the liberal world order. Such a scenario is mostly found in liberal (institutionalist) approaches, in which opportunities for the US and the West to accommodate China's economic rise within the liberal order are emphasized (Ikenberry, 2008(Ikenberry, , 2009(Ikenberry, , 2014Lieber, 2014;Steinfeld, 2010). In global trade, China's WTO membership accordingly constituted a cornerstone of integration into the liberal order, and as previous research has pointed out, China is most of the time acting as a pragmatic WTO rule-taker (Zeng & Liang, 2013; but see Weinhardt and ten Brink in this Forum).…”