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When China Rules The World: The End Of The Western World And The Birth Of A New Global Order (2008)

by Martin Jacques(Favorite Author)

3.71 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1594201854 (ISBN13: 9781594201851)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Penguin Press HC, The

review 1: As the hypebolic marketing-speak title indicates, this is not an attempt at a balanced view of the much-discussed Rise of China - in parts, it is more like one of those colour supplements you used to get in the Sunday newspaper, extolling the virtues of investing in Belarussia or some such authoritarian paradise ('enjoy our fully flexible labour force!'). Jacques outlines the inevitable rise of China as an economic power well and this was engaging enough, especially the bits about the two-speed economy within the PRC itself, with a developing hinterland to which capital investment is moving, for the cheaper labour, a process that seems to hold within it the seeds of social discord, perhaps. But then he goes on to make further claims about the chances of Chinese global hege... moremony which I found a lot less convincing - hegemony being the IR equivalent of 'ruling the world', albeit not literally. The main claim here, and the most dubious, is that China is not a nation-state in the traditional, Westphalian manner, but a 'civilisation masquerading as a state', and therefore totally different, from, say, other great powers such as the USA, Russia or even the UK. The evidence for this is that it has endured for 5000 years and has always considered itself to be the centre of the world, and the superior race and culture (sounds like good old exceptionalism to me). Also, it has a mono-ethnic constituency of Han Chinese, and a Confucian tradition, which means the state has always been central to the life of the people - as such, the rule of the Communist Party is not seen as being out of sync with the state-centric tradition, says Jacques. This implies that the expecation of the West that a growing middle class will demand democracy is likely to be a chimera, and, furter, that we should expect a dominant China to remake the international system in its image, as the US did after WWII. Here Jacques invokes the ancient 'tributary' system, based on the hierarchy of states (with China at the top), but it is unclear why advanced modern states such as Japan and Korea would want to fall in line with this, other than for economic reasons. Likewise, given the US strategic 'pivot' towards Asia, it is not clear how Chinese economic influence will transmute into military power - the US is hugely stronger militarily at present - and this is clearly a part of hegemonic power. Technology transfer will narrow this gap, as will sheer numbers, but it will take a long time before any power can threaten US military power, either in the air or at sea. Similiary, a key element of post-1945 US hegemony is its overwhelming soft power, based on the dominance of its cultural exports - this is likely to be challenged of course, but it will take time, given the dominance of English in the music, film and academic worlds.The thesis is perhaps over-stated but the general theme is a movement away from a Western-centric world and that is fairly hard to argue with - it is a shame that the author was not able to offer a less sensationalist and more academically balanced work on this topic. And it really is not necessary to re-state the thesis in almost every chapter, and many many times, to the point of numbing the brain of the reader. Please, do some editing Penguin.
review 2: When China Rules The World takes a hard look at China's rapid rise during the last 3 decades and what it means to the rest of the world, including according to Jacques, the declining West.Martin Jacques is an economist trained in Cambridge (with a specialization in Marxism), now working as columnist for various leading dailies and he has also served as a visiting professor in several major universities in China, Japan, Singapore and the USA.Thr first parts of the books deal with the declining West (mainly in terms of overall world trade, population, resources and a host of other indices) and some background in Chinese history. The section devoted to Japan raised many hackles as Jacques claimed that Japan was in terminal decline as the country had no idea what to do after it almost caught up with the USA in terms of GDP and other factors (sounds very half baked to me).But the later sections of the book which tackle modern China directly, such as its phenomenal rise during the last couple of decades in terms of its manufacturing industries, share of world trade and recently, global finance is where Jacques shines. I liked the idea that the present government in China has more in common with its Confucian predecessors in China's long history rather than European style communism. He talks about almost everything including present clothing trends, Chinese food, and even Chinese attitudes towards racism, and what it might mean to the rest of the world.Jacques also superbly handles Chinese relations with Latin America, Africa and of course, its own backyard and how China is beating the USA and Europe in nearly every way in these regions. Chinese investment and trade dwarfs all competitors especially in Africa which is providing all kinds of resources to hungry China.I however didn't like some of Jacques ideas trumpeting China's uniqueness at being a "Civilization State". Sure Chinese history and what they derive from it is unique, as unique as say France's or India's or Kenya's history is from the rest of the world. How this entitles China to "extra-uniqueness" escaped me.China is surely going to be a power to be reckoned with. And this is especially poignant since China will be the first of the "colonized" countries (my emphasis because although China was never really colonized like say India or Africa, it had severe restrictions put on it that made its situation akin to other colonies) rather than a "colonizer". And I'm sold to Jacques idea that China's sheer size and penchant for taking a long term view will make the world a very, very different place. However, I'm not yet fully impressed by Jacques summarily dismissing off the West, especially the USA as a complete non-player in the coming decades, even accounting for the 2008 financial meltdown. Sure, China is big and strong, but so is the West, especially the USA which is in for the long haul too.I really loved the large number of charts, graphs and other infographics in this book, especially the ones that succinctly put across all the survey results (special kudos for these, most of the surveys look to be done by very competent and reliable authorities, and most of them are as recent as 2011).Overall a satisfying read which takes an excellent look at China's rise, and what it might mean to the rest of us.P.S. On IndiaAlthough this book is on China, Jacques handles India too, to some extent. Both countries as Jacques mentions repeatedly have a lot in common: long histories, humongous populations, and now, rapidly growing developing economies. However, India is nowhere close to China, and Jacques diagnoses it correctly, India "has a grossly inefficient and corrupt state" and an on and off "Maoist" insurgency problem in many of its states. More than that, India has simply not shown the will that China has, and lags behind in almost everything. At the same time, I would've liked Jacques to spend a little more time on India, at least as much space he devotes to Japan --if not the USA-- in this book. In my opinion how India and China deal with each other is going to become very important in the coming future, and I would've loved to read Jacques informed opinion on that. (The very fact that as an Indian, I seek Western opinions on two "Eastern" countries and their futures says a lot about Western power, and how it isn't going away anytime soon.) less

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