When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Rise of the Middle Kingdom by Martin Jacques

From the Publisher

How China's ascendance as an economic superpower will alter the cultural, political, social, and ethnic balance of global power in the twenty-first century, unseating the West and in the process creating a whole new world

According to even the most conservative estimates, China will overtake the United States as the world's largest economy by 2027 and will ascend to the position of world economic leader by 2050. But the full repercussions of China's ascendancy-for itself and the rest of the globe-have been surprisingly little explained or understood. In this far-reaching and original investigation, Martin Jacques offers provocative answers to some of the most pressing questions about China's growing place on the world stage.

Martin Jacques reveals, by elaborating on three historical truths, how China will seek to shape the world in its own image. The Chinese have a rich and long history as a civilization-state. Under the tributary system, outlying states paid tribute to the Middle Kingdom. Ninety-four percent of the population still believes they are one race-"Han Chinese." The strong sense of superiority rooted in China's history promises to resurface in twenty-first century China and in the process strengthen and further unify the country.

A culturally self-confident Asian giant with a billion-plus population, China will likely resist globalization as we know it. This exceptionalism will have powerful ramifications for the rest of the world and the United States in particular. As China is already emerging as the new center of the East Asian economy, the mantle of economic and, therefore, cultural relevance will in our lifetimes begin to pass fromManhattan and Paris to cities like Beijing and Shanghai. It is the American relationship with and attitude toward China, Jacques argues, that will determine whether the twenty-first century will be relatively peaceful or fraught with tension, instability, and danger.

When China Rules the World is the first book to fully conceive of and explain the upheaval that China's ascendance will cause and the realigned global power structure it will create.

Publishers Weekly

A convincing economic, political and cultural analysis of waning Western dominance and the rise of China and a new paradigm of modernity. Jacques (The Politics of Thatcherism) takes the pulse of the nation poised to become, by virtue of its scale and staggering rate of growth, the biggest market in the world. Jacques points to the decline of American hegemony and outlines specific elements of China's rising global power and how these are likely to influence international relations in the future. He imagines a world where China's distinct brand of modernity, rooted firmly in its ancient culture and traditions, will have a profound influence on attitudes toward work, family and even politics that will become a counterbalance to and eventually reverse the one-way flow of Westernization. He suggests that while China's economic prosperity may not necessarily translate into democracy, China's increased self-confidence is allowing it to project its political and cultural identity ever more widely as time goes on. As comprehensive as it is compelling, this brilliant book is crucial reading for anyone interested in understanding where the we are and where we are going. (Nov.)

The Guardian (UK)

An extremely impressive book, full of bold but credible predictions. Only time will tell how Jacques's prophecies pan out, but I suspect his book will long be remembered for its foresight and insight.

New Statesman (UK)

By far the best book on China to have been published in many years, and one of the most important inquiries into the nature of modernization . . . Jacques's comprehensive and richly detailed analysis will be an indispensable resource for anyone who wants to understand contemporary China.

The Independent (UK)

A tour de force . . . What Martin Jacques set out to do-and has done in meticulous detail-was to challenge what he regards as a dangerously false premise: that the rise of China will be benign.

Library Journal

Jacques (visiting research fellow, Asia Research Ctr., London Sch. of Economics) writes that "we stand on the eve of a different kind of world, but comprehending it is difficult." Providing both an overview of Chinese history and culture and an analysis of issues from colonialism and American imperialism to globalization and the financial crisis, this extensively researched work attempts to comprehend China's future role. Jacques takes the unusual approach of describing China as a "civilization-state" and argues that its rise will challenge the international status quo in ways not addressed by those who judge progress in terms of Westernization. VERDICT Jacques raises a multitude of thought-provoking questions about China's future role on the world stage. While he provides enough political, cultural, and historical context that even casual readers will be able to engage with his thesis regarding the hypothetical future of a globally dominant China, given its density and scholarly nature this book will be most appealing to readers who already have some understanding of the debate over China's global role and are interested in another perspective.—Madeline Mundt, Univ. of Nevada Lib., Reno

Kirkus Reviews

British scholar and Guardian columnist Jacques (co-editor: New Times, 1989, etc.) delivers a clear-eyed look at how China's recent modernization will leapfrog Western "superiority."For millennia China existed in a state of "splendid isolation," while the West, namely Britain, adapting many Chinese inventions, embarked on the Industrial Revolution funded by coal reserves and colonial contributions. Although China had the wherewithal for modernization, the author asserts, it lacked adequate sustainable resources, which Europe derived from the slave trade and colonization. However, China's recent transformation, in a relatively short time, "has been more home-grown than Western import." Jacques walks the reader through the early establishment of an authoritative, rigidly hierarchical system in China, from emperor to warlord to Mao, encompassing an emphasis on education, family structure, a central bureaucracy and maintaining harmony. He writes that China is not just a nation-state, but a "civilization-state," and is only halfway through its economic takeoff, and not yet prepared to implement a multiparty democratic system. Many will argue that China recognizes it doesn't really need democracy, which would serve as a "distraction from the main task of sustaining the country's economic growth." Jacques discusses at length issues of racism, culture and language, and he examines China's likely future impact on other emerging economic powers like Africa, Iran and the Middle East, Russia, India and South Asia. So what will Chinese global hegemony look like? Not at all like the West. Cultural differences do matter, and Jacques ably demonstrates that China's process of modernization derives fromits own "native sources of dynamism."Agent: Andrew Wylie/The Wylie Agency

What People Are Saying

Eric Hobsbawm
"This important book, deeply considered, full of historical understanding and realism, is about more than China. It is about a 21st century world no longer modelled on and shaped by North Atlantic power, ideas and assumptions. I suspect it will be highly influential."

Niall Ferguson
"The rise of China may well prove to be the defining economic and geopolitical change of our time, and few authors have given the subject deeper thought or offered a more illuminating analysis than Martin Jacques."--(Niall Ferguson, author of The Ascent of Money)

Yu Yongding
"This is, without doubt, one of the best and most serious studies of China I have ever read-a fascinating book."--(Yu Yongding, President of the China Society of World Economics)

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