Table Of Content

Cover Page: 1 Title Page Page: 2 Copyright Page: 3 Dedication Page: 5 Introduction: On the Danger of War Page: 7 1 A Short History of the US-China Relationship Page: 14 2 The Problem of Distrust Page: 28 3 Understanding Xi Jinping’s Worldview: Ten Concentric Circles of Interest Page: 34 4 The First Circle: The Politics of Staying in Power Page: 36 5 The Second Circle: Securing National Unity Page: 40 6 The Third Circle: Ensuring Economic Prosperity Page: 43 7 The Fourth Circle: Making Economic Development Environmentally Sustainable Page: 56 8 The Fifth Circle: Modernizing the Military Page: 59 9 The Sixth Circle: Managing China’s Neighborhood Page: 68 10 The Seventh Circle: Securing China’s Maritime Periphery—the Western Pacific, the Indo-Pacific, and the Quad Page: 76 11 The Eighth Circle: Going West—the Belt and Road Initiative Page: 83 12 The Ninth Circle: Increasing Chinese Leverage Across Europe, Africa, and Latin America and Gaining an Arctic Foothold Page: 89 13 The Tenth Circle: Changing the Global Rules-Based Order Page: 98 14 America’s Emerging Strategic Response to Xi Jinping’s China Page: 104 15 Xi Jinping’s China in the 2020s: The Politics of the Twentieth Party Congress Page: 112 16 The Decade of Living Dangerously: Alternative Futures for US-China Relations Page: 120 17 Navigating an Uncertain Future: The Case for Managed Strategic CompetitionEpilogue Page: 129 Epilogue Page: 142 Acknowledgments Page: 143 Discover More Page: 144 About the Author Page: 145

Description:

A war between China and the US would be catastrophic, deadly, and destructive. Unfortunately, it is no longer unthinkable. The relationship between the US and China, the world’s two superpowers, is peculiarly volatile. It rests on a seismic fault—of cultural misunderstanding, historical grievance, and ideological incompatibility. No other nations are so quick to offend and be offended. Their militaries play a dangerous game of chicken, corporations steal intellectual property, intelligence satellites peer, and AI technicians plot. The capacity for either country to cross a fatal line grows daily. Kevin Rudd, a former Australian prime minister who has studied, lived in, and worked with China for more than forty years, is one of the very few people who can offer real insight into the mindsets of the leadership whose judgment will determine if a war will be fought. The Avoidable War demystifies the actions of both sides, explaining and translating them for the benefit of the other. Geopolitical disaster is still avoidable, but only if these two giants can find a way to coexist without betraying their core interests through what Rudd calls “managed strategic competition.” Should they fail, down that path lies the possibility of a war that could rewrite the future of both countries, and the world.