At the moment Liu Xiaobao was announced as this 2010's Nobel Peace Prize winner, Liu was most likely incarcerated in his cell in the very country he had set to free. Interestingly, in my review of Playing Our Game, Edward Steinfeld's argues that contrary to China's perception as rising superpower threatening America's place in the world, it is the opposite that is true: China's growth not only solidifies America's trade dominance but democratizes China, forcing the authoritarian regime to "play by the rules" of American trade diplomacy. Even though the majority of Chinese products are assembled for export to the West, elements of those products are bought from the West: American global production has increased since China's liberalization of its economy. Although both Chinese and Americans benefit from China's global integration, the implications for China's social and economic development are enormous, as the majority of its citizens earn so much less than Americans, with few luxuries or a social safety net, and the country's most talented researchers are gravitating to the West. VERDICT A superb analysis of the political economies of China and the United States, dispelling some of the myths of China's rise as a superpower. Recommended for all interested in globalization and Chinese-American global relations.—Allan Cho, Univ. of British Columbia Lib., Vancouver
Friday, October 8, 2010
Playing Our Game: Why China's Rise Doesn't Threaten the West
At the moment Liu Xiaobao was announced as this 2010's Nobel Peace Prize winner, Liu was most likely incarcerated in his cell in the very country he had set to free. Interestingly, in my review of Playing Our Game, Edward Steinfeld's argues that contrary to China's perception as rising superpower threatening America's place in the world, it is the opposite that is true: China's growth not only solidifies America's trade dominance but democratizes China, forcing the authoritarian regime to "play by the rules" of American trade diplomacy. Even though the majority of Chinese products are assembled for export to the West, elements of those products are bought from the West: American global production has increased since China's liberalization of its economy. Although both Chinese and Americans benefit from China's global integration, the implications for China's social and economic development are enormous, as the majority of its citizens earn so much less than Americans, with few luxuries or a social safety net, and the country's most talented researchers are gravitating to the West. VERDICT A superb analysis of the political economies of China and the United States, dispelling some of the myths of China's rise as a superpower. Recommended for all interested in globalization and Chinese-American global relations.—Allan Cho, Univ. of British Columbia Lib., Vancouver
