China Contemporary

Remember the '90s? I do. As a teenager in the small town of Vernal, I remember the parties and the dances and the drugs and the truancy and the evasion of authority figures. What incredible fun. I remember something else as well. I remember something the rest of that town does not. I’m not saying they’ve forgotten. I’m saying they never formed the memories in the first place. I’m talking about three days in this hick town in the American West which have been lost to history.

The United States and China are engaged in a broad-gauged and global competition for power. While this competition ranges across the entire world, it is centered in Asia. In this book, David Shambaugh focuses on the critical sub-region of Southeast Asia. The United States and China constantly vie for position and influence across this enormously significant area - and the outcome of this contest will do much to determine whether Asia leaves the American orbit after seven decades and falls into a new Chinese sphere of influence.