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Loading... On China (original 2011; edition 2011)by Henry Kissinger
Work InformationOn China by Henry Kissinger (2011)
   No current Talk conversations about this book.  Herculean_Librarian | Sep 10, 2022 |   Henry Kissinger has taken a somewhat chronological approach. The first section goes back to 'the century of humiliation', and he explains how this has influenced the Chinese. From there, there is a broad swathe until the time of Hu Jintao. He has dedicated a large section of the book to the Mao/Zhou Enlai/Deng Xiaoping era, and I assume that this is because this is the time he was involved with China. His writing on Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao are more cursory. I do not think that he has explored geopolitics in its entirety, and this is fine because it would have complicated the narrative. Along the way, you get some insights into how the Chinese negotiate and their approach to relationships and strategy. This is why I have given it a 5-star. I am sure he has glossed over, and ignored his missteps and miscalculations insofar as China is concerned. (  ) RajivC | Mar 22, 2021 |  ) richardSprague | Mar 22, 2020 |  ) CrystalToller | Mar 5, 2019 | ) mamashepp | Mar 29, 2016 |
Kissinger chooses to ascribe huge insight to virtually everything Mao says. Henry Kissinger will always remain a controversial historical figure. But this elegantly written and erudite book reminds us that on one of the biggest questions of the post-World War II world his judgment was right, and showed a long-term vision that few politicians of any country could match today. Unless, of course, Hillary Clinton is even now on a secret mission to Tehran. Henry Kissinger in China was always a gratingly and irritatingly smug presence, but Henry Kissinger "on China" is madly baffling. An epic and, in some places, surprisingly moving book (...) on China Mr. Kissinger’s fascinating, shrewd and sometimes perverse new book, “On China,” not only addresses the central role he played in Nixon’s opening to China but also tries to show how the history of China, both ancient and more recent, has shaped its foreign policy and attitudes toward the West. (...) Lurking beneath Mr. Kissinger’s musings on Chinese history is a not-so-subtle subtext. This volume, much like his 1994 book, “Diplomacy,” is also a sly attempt by a controversial figure to burnish his legacy as Nixon’s national security adviser and secretary of state. It is a book that promotes Mr. Kissinger’s own brand of realpolitik thinking, and that in doing so often soft-pedals the human costs of Mao’s ruthless decades-long reign and questions the consequences of more recent American efforts to press human-rights issues with the Chinese. AwardsDistinctions
"In this sweeping and insightful history, Henry Kissinger turns for the first time at book-length to a country he has known intimately for decades, and whose modern relations with the West he helped shape. Drawing on historical records as well as his conversations with Chinese leaders over the past forty years, Kissinger examines how China has approached diplomacy, strategy, and negotiation throughout its history, and reflects on the consequences for the global balance of power in the 21st century. Since no other country can claim a more powerful link to its ancient past and classical principles, any attempt to understand China's future world role must begin with an appreciation of its long history. For centuries, China rarely encountered other societies of comparable size and sophistication; it was the "Middle Kingdom," treating the peoples on its periphery as vassal states. At the same time, Chinese statesmen-facing threats of invasion from without, and the contests of competing factions within-developed a canon of strategic thought that prized the virtues of subtlety, patience, and indirection over feats of martial prowess. In 'On China', Kissinger examines key episodes in Chinese foreign policy from the classical era to the present day, with a particular emphasis on the decades since the rise of Mao Zedong. He illuminates the inner workings of Chinese diplomacy during such pivotal events as the initial encounters between China and modern European powers, the formation and breakdown of the Sino-Soviet alliance, the Korean War, Richard Nixon's historic trip to Beijing, and three crises in the Taiwan Straits. Drawing on his extensive personal experience with four generations of Chinese leaders, he brings to life towering figures such as Mao, Zhou Enlai, and Deng Xiaoping, revealing how their different visions have shaped China's modern destiny. With his singular vantage on U.S.-China relations, Kissinger traces the evolution of this fraught but crucial relationship over the past 60 years, following its dramatic course from estrangement to strategic partnership to economic interdependence, and toward an uncertain future. With a final chapter on the emerging superpower's 21st-century world role, 'On China' provides an intimate historical perspective on Chinese foreign affairs from one of the premier statesmen of the 20th century"-- No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)327.51Social sciences Political Science International Relations Asia China & KoreaLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.96)
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It has certainly left me hungry for some other books in a similar vein in my "tsundoku" including [b:Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap?|31125556|Destined for War Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap?|Graham Allison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1488552414l/31125556._SY75_.jpg|51739339], [b:The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Its Renewal|40405442|The Back Channel A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Its Renewal|William J. Burns|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1538745305l/40405442._SY75_.jpg|62723493] and [b:A Political History of the World: Three Thousand Years of War and Peace|39074559|A Political History of the World Three Thousand Years of War and Peace|Jonathan Holslag|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531841329l/39074559._SY75_.jpg|60629808]. Now to find the time... (