This is both an extremely important book and a very timely one. In clear and very readable prose, the author sets out the main points of tension between the US and China and simultaneously debunks the many myths surrounding them that circulate in Washington policy-making circles and beyond.
A short note of disclosure; I was happy to give the author some very minor help on some secondary matters dealt with in the book. But the work is very much her own.
The central, officially-sponsored myth about US-China relations is that the latter is intent on political or even military confrontation in order to project its burgeoning economic power on the wider world. There is a an entire cottage industry of books with variations on thus theme, including some authored by members of the current US Administration. As the detailed argument of this work makes clear, there is no logic in this view, widely-held in Western policy circles. China is indeed a rising economic power, and is about to embark on its fourth consecutive decade of unprecedented growth. All this without confrontation with the US. At the same time China's clearly inferior military power would much any such conflict a reckless and therefore extremely unlikely gamble. From the Chinese perspective, confrontation is both unnecessary and counter-productive.
On the contrary it is prolonged weak US economic growth which is the new factor, and it is the US which has resorted to the 'Asian Pivot' in response. This is aimed at isolating China in trade terms regionally (including the failed TPP), stirring up conflicts around the South China Sea and using both bellicose language and threats of increased sanctions or tariffs in US-China bilateral relations. The conflict has only one committed belligerent and it is the US.
The book has examined these and many other key factors in great detail, while always remaining fluent and readily intelligible. There is also a panoramic view of the relations between China and all its neighbours, as well as the the continuous US efforts to insert itself into those relations. As the risks in relation to North Korea now become prominent, and Japan increases its own military power in support of the US, these individual chapters may well take on greater importance.
Inevitably, the type of trenchant and sustained argument that the author sets out is informed by a geopolitical worldview or framework which is in sharp contrast to both neoliberal interventionism and what is sometimes wrongly described as Trump's 'isolationist' agenda. Some of the most interesting and lucid passages of the book are where that framework is outlined. It would be very valuable if the author has the opportunity to elaborate on this aspect in particular in future work.
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Top reviews from other countries
- Michael BurkeReviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 December 2017
An excellent contribution on a very important topic
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase - Brian M.Reviewed in the United States on 19 April 2021
This book roots for China and demonizes the US
Format: KindleVerified Purchase - Amazon CustomerReviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 February 2018
Four Stars
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase - M. MartinReviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 August 2017
I recommend this book to anyone interested in this most important ...
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase - Stephen BellReviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 September 2017
A serious study for academics and activists alike
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
