Has China Won? - by Kishore Mahbubani (Paperback)

About the Book

"The twenty-first century's great geopolitical contest has begun. A major trade war has broken out. American and Chinese naval vessels are having close encounters in the South China Sea. American congressmen and businessmen are cheering their government's public attacks on China. China is standing firm and resolute. Who will win this contest? What is at stake? And who will judge the winner? In this book, Kishore Mahbubani evaluates the two sides, and shows how China has been thinking on a global scale, launching ambitious initiatives under some of the world's most pragmatic and competent leaders. Most critically, the Chinese people have regained their cultural confidence. Chinese society is now infused with innovation and dynamism. Meanwhile, America has seen the power of its economic model badly damaged by the 2008 financial crisis. To many it is no longer the indispensable nation but an awkward interloper. The global rise of China and the relative strategic decline of the US presents a political challenge that the US has never faced before. American policymakers must shake off their complacency and launch a major strategic reboot of both domestic and foreign policies that have weakened the nation's social foundations and global standing. Otherwise, the start-up nation, barely two hundred and fifty years old, with only a quarter of China's population, cannot expect to defeat the world's oldest continuous civilization. With his trademark candor, Mahbubani delivers impartial and incisive insights on the strategic stakes and mistakes in this new great game"--

Book Synopsis

From a former president of the United Nations Security Council, an authoritative look at the US, China, and the defining geopolitical contest of the twenty-first century

"An excellent and important book on the biggest question in international affairs: how will the relationship between the US and China evolve?" --Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator, Financial Times

China and the United States are world powers without serious rivals. They eye each other warily across the Pacific. They vie for the allegiances of other major nations and an ever-larger share of the global GDP. They tout opposing values and ideologies. A massive geopolitical contest is underway.

Drawing on his decades of experience in diplomacy and geopolitical strategy, Kishore Mahbubani offers a bracingly honest appraisal of the strengths and weaknesses of these ambitious and eccentric superpowers--and a clear-eyed assessment of their best path forward. Has China Won? is the definitive guide to the deep fault lines between the two countries.

Review Quotes

"An unrelentingly realist and highly authoritative book on the twenty-first century's greatest geopolitical contest... A must-read for leaders, professionals, and students who want a painfully real and compelling assessment of modern US-China relations." --National Interest

"Americans should heed Kishore Mahbubani's astringent advice, unwelcome as it may be: Cast away illusions about eternal U.S. primacy and exceptional virtue protected by high walls. Instead, Washington should adopt a long-term international strategy anchored in balance and cooperation; reestablish sound internal leadership and governance; win friends abroad instead of driving allies away; avoid over-commitment; and express moral modesty. Military power is not the most important weapon in the Arsenal of Democracy." --David M. Lampton, author of The Three Faces of Chinese Power

"China and the US are locked in a struggle for international primacy, and the result of this contest will shape the world order for generations to come. Kishore captures the complexity of this battle with the measured nuance and clear insight it deserves. Not to be missed." --Ian Bremmer, New York Times bestselling author of Us vs. Them

"Kishore Mahbubani has a remarkable ability to see through the complacent orthodoxies that lead great nations astray. Has China Won? identifies the myths and mistakes that are undermining Chinese and American relations with each other and the world, and it offers both countries candid and clear-eyed advice for how to do better in the future. Leaders in Beijing and Washington will not like everything he has to say, but they would do well to pay close attention to it anyway. And so should you." --Stephen M. Walt, New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy

"Kishore Mahbubani has deep experience in diplomacy and international relations, an highly-developed relatively rare ability to think strategically in complex settings, and a unique capacity (by virtue of his life story) to connect with and respect multiple civilizations and their values. These skills, insights and experience are on full display in his new book, Has China Won? ... His assessment of the biases and mistakes on both sides is both brutal and crucial. It will take most readers out of their comfort zone, and that is part of its strength... An important book at a crucial moment in history." --Michael Spence, Nobel laureate and author of The Next Convergence

"No one seems more surprised at what China has learned from the US than the United States itself, which now sees China purely as a rival that threatens its global primacy. Mahbubani asks pointedly: what did China do to deserve this? He has gone further than ever before to challenge his readers to think of the consequences if the rivalry is allowed to grow unchecked." --Wang Gungwu, author of The Chinese Overseas

"Kishore Mahbubani has written an excellent and important book on the biggest question in international affairs: how will the relationship between the US and China evolve? Humanity desperately needs these superpowers to co-operate. It seems more likely to have ceaseless friction between them. If it is the latter, argues Mahbubani, it is quite likely that the US will end up at a severe disadvantage, not so much because of China's inherent superiority, but rather because of US mistakes, not least a failure to grasp the Chinese reality." --Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator, Financial Times

"Has China Won? is a provocative title. In his latest book, Kishore Mahbubani explains why this is in fact the wrong question to ask. Despite rising resentment and mutual misperception, both the United States and China ultimately know that war between them will be cataclysmic. In this revelatory new book, Mahbubani appeals to the deeper rationality of both great powers, arguing that the greatest challenge of our times will be to answer the question of whether humanity has won. Both American and Chinese readers will benefit from Mahbubani's wisdom." --George Yeo, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Singapore

"At a time when US-China relations have gotten more tense than at any period in decades, this is a very valuable book that presents views that most Americans will find challenging and controversial." --Fareed Zakaria, CNN

"Elegantly argued and crammed with persuasive facts." --Asia Times

"Kishore Mahbubani's Has China Won? is a serious contribution: reviewing strategic wisdom from Kennan to Kennedy, asking provocative, even heretical questions about China's rise, and counseling a world safe for diversity." --Graham Allison, author of Destined for War

"With his usual lucidity and provocativeness, Kishore Mahbubani has written yet another cool-headed analysis of a subject of great importance for the world's future." --The International Institute of Strategic Studies

About the Author

Kishore Mahbubani is a veteran diplomat whose ten books and numerous articles in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Financial Times have earned him global recognition as "the muse of the Asian century." A former president of the UN Security Council, he is a distinguished fellow at the National University of Singapore's Asia Research Institute. He lives in Singapore.