A Contest for Supremacy – China, America, and the Struggle for Mastery in Asia - Hardcover

Friedberg, Aaron

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393068285 ISBN 13: 9780393068283

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2011

Synopsis

There may be no denying China's growing economic strength, but its impact on the global balance of power remains hotly contested. Political scientist Aaron L. Friedberg argues that our nation's leaders are failing to act expeditiously enough to counter China's growing strength. He explains how the United States and China define their goals and reveals the strategies each is now employing to achieve its ends. Friedberg demonstrates in this provocative book that the ultimate aim of Chinese policymakers is to "win without fighting," displacing the United States as the leading power in Asia while avoiding direct confrontation. The United States, on the other hand, sends misleading signals about our commitments and resolve, putting us at risk for a war that might otherwise have been avoided. A much-needed wake-up call to U.S. leaders and policymakers, A Contest for Supremacy is a compelling interpretation of a rivalry that will go far to determine the shape of the twenty-first century.

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Review:

"A Contest for Supremacy is a rigorous and comprehensive account of the state of U.S.-China strategic relations, and by far, the most thoughtful and serious book to date on the topic." -- Weekly Standard "[Friedberg's] is the most thoughtful and informative of a stream of China-threat books that have come out since the mid-1990s." -- Andrew J. Nathan - Foreign Affairs "His book is tough-minded and sometimes pessimistic but there is nothing hysterical about it. On the contrary, it is sober and well-informed... A Contest for Supremacy offers a careful and compelling examination of the US-Chinese relationship from a number of angles." -- Financial Times "...Friedberg's alarm soundings have authority. China's new wealth allows it to apply `soft power' in East Asia and elsewhere, its deployment of modern technology has counteracted American influence in the region, and its economy continues to thrive even as America bogs down in two wars. Friedberg's responses...help keep this important issue front and center." -- Alan Moores - Booklist "A stern, carefully worded warning about why the United States should be more wary of China's meteoric rise.... In a meticulously organized study...Friedberg lays out the various ongoing arguments for containment or alignment, as well as what he extrapolates Chinese intentions to be.... An important cry to heed: China's peaceful rise cannot disguise its aim to become `world number one.'" -- Kirkus

About the Author:

Aaron L. Friedberg is a professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School and a former deputy assistant for national security affairs in the Office of the Vice President. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0393068285
• ISBN 13: 9780393068283
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 384