Danger Zone

The Coming Conflict with China

By: Hal Brands, Michael Beckley

Narrated by: Nancy Wu

It has become conventional wisdom that America and China are running a "superpower marathon." Yet Hal Brands and Michael Beckley pose a counterintuitive question: What if the sharpest phase of that competition is more like a decade-long sprint?

The Sino-American contest is driven by clashing geopolitical interests and a stark ideological dispute over whether authoritarianism or democracy will dominate the twenty-first century. But both history and China's current trajectory suggest that this rivalry will reach its moment of maximum danger in the 2020s.

China is at a perilous moment: strong enough to violently challenge the existing order, yet losing confidence that time is on its side. Witness its aggression toward Taiwan, its record-breaking military buildup, and its efforts to dominate the critical technologies that will shape the world's future.

The Chinese challenge will most likely prove more manageable than many pessimists currently believe—but during the 2020s, the pace of Sino-American conflict will accelerate, and the prospect of war will be frighteningly real. America, Brands and Beckley argue, will still need a sustainable approach to winning a protracted global competition.

©2022 Hal Brands and Michael Beckley (P)2022 Tantor

Well written and thoughtful

The book goes into detail of how to counter Chinese dominance in a systematic way

China greed and envy can be contained

The authors share much valuable knowledge of Chinese history and present many options for the future of worldwide prosperity and freedom.

But, they they quietly gloss over the power of Christian cultures in creating prosperity through inspired inventions and increased human collaboration.

Very worthwhile reading/listening while keeping in mind that much speculation and opinion are woven into most chapters.

Hawkish but realistic

A sobering look to the scenarios America is likely to face with a post peak China. Some recommendations are quite hawkish but also persuasive.

Highly Relevant, Informative & Well-Read

This is a book all policy makers and students of US-China relations should read, and I make this recommendation as the former editor of the website ChinaOnline.

This is not a book written to scare readers into making an impulse purchase. This is a well-thougut-out, thoroughly researched guide on what has been taking place between the US and China, what may happen if we continue on our current path, and what we can do to prevent a military conflict.

At first I didn't like the narrator. I thought her tone was too dramatic for a serious scholarly text. But then Nancy Wu did something few narrators of books on China do: she pronounced Chinese names and place-names correctly, and that won me over.

lf Ms. Wu were to tone down her narrating a tad, it would be pitch perfect.

Understanding Future Risk

well documented & presented in a comprehensive manner that lays out facts, alternatives and responsibility