Best Books to understand the U.S. confrontation with China

by Bob Davis
|
8 books
It wasn’t so long ago that the U.S. and China seemed locked in a mutual embrace. Historians talked about “Chimerica”—the world’s two largest economies working alongside one another for global prosperity. But over the past decade, the relationship has deteriorated to such an extent that war between the two nations now seems a possibility. What accounts for this stunning change? Here are eight books – eight is an auspicious number in China – to help understand the U.S.-China relationship and why it is fraying.
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The Party

The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers
Richard McGregor, 2010
The key to understanding contemporary Chinese politics is understanding the preeminent role of the Communist Party. Given the Party’s secrecy and penchant for masking its actions, that’s a tall order. McGregor’s book, now a decade old, remains the best guide to understanding decision-making in China. The Party is at once all-powerful and invisible, though with Xi Jinping, the Party has taken a more public role.

The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom

America and China, 1776 to the Present
John Pomfret, 2016
In a magisterial history, Pomfret traces the U.S.-China relationship back to the early days of the American republic. For Americans, China has long been seen as a place to make fortunes and proselytize for souls. All too often, Americans came away from the encounter disillusioned. For the Chinese, America has often been a model for political and economic reform. And when the U.S. didn’t live up to those ideals, the Chinese, too, became deeply disappointed.

Superpower Showdown

How the Battle Between Trump and Xi Threatens a New Cold War
Bob Davis, Lingling Wei, 2020
Yes, I am promoting a book I co-wrote, but I believe it is the best account of how the U.S.-China economic relationship rose and fell. During the early days of engagement, the U.S. tried to pull China into the West by wrapping it in a web of economic ties. But as China grew wealthier, ties frayed. Part of the reason was the political battle between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. But, the leaders’ struggle reflected diverging economic goals and political realities in both countries.

On China

Henry Kissinger, 2011
It’s difficult to understand U.S.-China relations without understanding how Henry Kissinger sized up the Chinese. Kissinger has shrewd insights into the Chinese leaders he has met and offers thoughts about dealing with Beijing. But even at an advanced age, Kissinger takes care not to burn bridges with Chinese leaders, which could have wrecked his consulting business.

Dealing with China

An Insider Unmasks the New Economic Superpower
Henry M. Paulson Jr., 2016
Former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson probably has had the most experience dealing with Beijing aside from Kissinger. His work with China spanned decades, first as a Goldman Sachs executive helping China work through a banking crisis and later as George W. Bush’s Treasury secretary during the global financial crisis. Some of the most interesting sections of the book involve Paulson trying to convince Chinese government officials not to pull their money out of the U.S.

The Long Game

China's Grand Strategy to Displace American Order
Rush Doshi, 2021
Kissinger and Paulson take a benign view of Beijing with an eye toward keeping the two countries working together. Doshi has an entirely different take. By meticulously combing Party documents, Doshi makes a powerful case that Beijing has long been following a careful plan to overtake the U.S., at least in Asia. Beijing was happy to have the U.S. talk about engagement but was never serious about meeting America halfway, argues Doshi, who later joined the Biden National Security Council.

The Hundred-Year Marathon

China's Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower
Michael Pillsbury, 2015
Pillsbury’s book preceded Doshi’s and has a similar take on Beijing – that Beijing was sweet-talking Washington while plotting to displace the U.S. Doshi’s book is more scholarly and ultimately more convincing than Pillsbury’s, but Pillsbury’s is a better read. Pillsbury became an adviser to Donald Trump and his book was required reading in that administration.

Red Roulette

An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption, and Vengeance in Today's China
Desmond Shum, 2021
One of the reasons the U.S.-China relationship has fallen apart is because many American businesses became disenchanted with their prospects in China. The market was tougher and more rigged than many expected. Shum, a Chinese onetime business insider, details the payoffs and corruption at the heart of the system, particularly incidents involving the wife of then-Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.