This insightful 2021 book is by Dr. Roush Doshi, founding director of the Brookings China Strategy Initiative and a fellow (on leave) at the Yale Law School.
Quoting from a plethora of Chinese official and other Party documents, he tries to rationalize the evolution of Beijing's foreign relations from "hide and bind" to an assertive strategy of "blunting" US dominance, "building" rival military capabilities and diplomatic institutions, and "legitimizing" China's metanarrative, in a ""Long Game" to displace an US-led global order, reminiscent of Graham Allison's famous tome The Hundred Year Marathon - China's Secret Strategy to Displace America as he Global Superpower
However erudite, the book suffers from a "post hoc" logical fallacy that China's desire for national renaissance (the China Dream) is a long game to displace the United States. For Beijing, national renaissance is the key, not global dominance, even though the end result of the China Dream will translate into sharing global power and influence with the United States.
Interestingly, the esteemed author's "asymmetric" recommendations for the United States are almost a mirror image of what is perceived to be China's 'Long Game" of "blunting, building, and legitimizing".
These include suggestions to join various ASEAN forums and the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to blunt China's influence; developing American allies' "Anti-Access/Area Denial" (A2/AD) capabilities against China; an America-led "Belt and Road" global initiative; developing US military postures in the Indo-Pacific, including Oceania; building a robust global "command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) structure, including space warfare; maintaining Dollar dominance (against "blunting" RMB internationalization and digitization); a new institution to audit US supply chains; strengthening American talent-building and innovative basic research, including partnership with allies; a competitive architecture for key industries and innovation capacities; and setting up a global "democratic cartel" of standards-setting bodies.
While ticking the right boxes, these recommendations seem to miss the reality that China's global strengths do not lie in its military, which is no match to America's on multiple fronts. They lie in China's outsized market and global connectivity.
The author's recommendations cannot change the reality that China's economy in Purchasing Power Parity terms is already 25% larger than the United States. It is expected to be bigger in nominal terms by 2028, thanks to greater economic resilience from the pandemic.
Neither can they change China's centrality in the global supply and value chain, de-coupling notwithstanding. A vast majority of the world, especially those in Asia and Africa, have China as the largest trading partner - 128 out of 190 nations worldwide. Witness the world's largest trading bloc, the Reginal Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), with China as the central economic, trading, and container shipping hub.
Yes, America has many more "allies" than China, but most don't want to be forced to take sides, adopting at best a hedging strategy.
What is more, the book reveals America's declining capacities in opting for "asymmetric", cost-conscious tactics.
All goes to explain why China is now more emboldened to assert its global influence and footprints, staying the course to realize the China Dream, healing the wounds of a "Century of Humiliation". An online book review dated 25 August of the Council on Council on Foreign Relations says as much.
But China is unlikely to rule the world. Nor, for that matter, does China want, or is ready, to take over America's global responsibilities.
America still retains enduring superiority on multiple fronts, including a blessed geography, military sophistication and global reach, Dollar supremacy, and ideological attractiveness, at a time when the global image of China remains at best mixed, if not outright negative.
