When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order
Encyclopedia
When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order is a book by British journalist and scholar Martin Jacques
. It was released in 2009. It aroused a serious discussion in the United States
and globally about the role of China
in the creation of the new 21st century world order. Jacques refers to the estimates on China's economic superiority, such as made by Goldman Sachs
, and concludes that China's future economic strength will heavily alter the political and cultural landscape of the future world. The book is considered by many as the best Western-made analysis on the rise of China
, though it has evoked some criticism too. The book was originally released in the UK under the subtitle "The Rise of the Middle Kingdom and the End of the Western World".
Martin Jacques argues that far from becoming a western-style society, China will remain highly distinctive. It is already having a far-reaching and much-discussed economic impact, but its political and cultural influence, which has hitherto been greatly neglected, will be at least as significant. Continental in size and mentality, and accounting for one fifth of humanity, China is not even a conventional nation-state but a ‘civilization-state’ whose imperatives, priorities and values are quite different. As it rapidly reassumes its traditional place at the centre of East Asia, the old tributary system will resurface in a modern form, contemporary ideas of racial hierarchy will be redrawn and China’s ages-old sense of superiority will reassert itself. China’s rise signals the end of the global dominance of the west and the emergence of a world which it will come to shape in a host of different ways and which will become increasingly disconcerting and unfamiliar to those who live in the west.
2 - Chinese modernity will be very different from western modernity
3 - We are moving into a world of contested modernity
4 - China will become the largest economy in the world within less than two decades and then proceed to rapidly out-distance that of the United States
5 - China’s impact on the world will not simply be economic; it will also have profound political, cultural and ideological effects.
6 - For thousands of years, China was at the centre of the tributary-state system in East Asia, which only came to an end with the arrival of European colonialism at the end of the nineteenth century
7 - As the East Asian economy is rapidly reconfigured around China, we should expect elements of the tributary system to reappear
8 - At its core, China is a civilization-state rather than a nation-state, a fact which will become steadily more apparent
9 - The Chinese state is very different from the western state: it has existed for over two thousand years, for over a millennium it has had no competitors (eg, church, merchants) nor limits to its power; it is regarded with reverence and deference by the Chinese as the guardian and protector of Chinese civilization
10 - The Chinese have a deep and living sense of their own culture and civilization which they regard as superior to all others
11 - 92% of the Chinese believe that they are of one race, the Han Chinese, unlike the other most populous nations such as India, the United States, Brazil and Indonesia, which recognize themselves to be highly multi-racial and multi-cultural
12 - The similarities between the communist period and the Confucian era are more striking than the differences
in Davos
. The book was praised in China and East Asian countries, where it was perceived by some pundits as the best and most understanding analysis of Chinese society and economics. Harvard professor Joseph Nye
has criticized the narrative of the book on American decline, and portrayed his more optimistic vision of the power 21st century in his book The Future of Power.
Fareed Zakaria
recommended the title as the book of the week of his show Fareed Zakaria GPS
on November 21, 2010. Zakaria noted "China is going to change the western dominated world we are all comfortable with. Whether you agree with it or not, this is a very forcefully written lively book that is full of provocations and predictions." Harvard economic historian Niall Ferguson
praised the book by writing: "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."
Martin Jacques
Martin Jacques is a British former magazine editor and academic. He was born and raised in Coventry. He was an undergraduate student at Manchester University, where he graduated with a first-class honours degree, and subsequently studied for a PhD at King's College, Cambridge.He was editor of the...
. It was released in 2009. It aroused a serious discussion in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and globally about the role of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
in the creation of the new 21st century world order. Jacques refers to the estimates on China's economic superiority, such as made by Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...
, and concludes that China's future economic strength will heavily alter the political and cultural landscape of the future world. The book is considered by many as the best Western-made analysis on the rise of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, though it has evoked some criticism too. The book was originally released in the UK under the subtitle "The Rise of the Middle Kingdom and the End of the Western World".
Synopsis
For over two hundred years we have lived in a western-made world, one where the very notion of being modern was synonymous with being western. The book argues that the twenty-first century will be different: with the rise of increasingly powerful non-Western countries, the west will no longer be dominant and there will be many ways of being modern. In this new era of ‘contested modernity’ the central player will be China.Martin Jacques argues that far from becoming a western-style society, China will remain highly distinctive. It is already having a far-reaching and much-discussed economic impact, but its political and cultural influence, which has hitherto been greatly neglected, will be at least as significant. Continental in size and mentality, and accounting for one fifth of humanity, China is not even a conventional nation-state but a ‘civilization-state’ whose imperatives, priorities and values are quite different. As it rapidly reassumes its traditional place at the centre of East Asia, the old tributary system will resurface in a modern form, contemporary ideas of racial hierarchy will be redrawn and China’s ages-old sense of superiority will reassert itself. China’s rise signals the end of the global dominance of the west and the emergence of a world which it will come to shape in a host of different ways and which will become increasingly disconcerting and unfamiliar to those who live in the west.
Key arguments
1 - There is not simply one western modernity, instead we are witnessing the birth of multiple modernities2 - Chinese modernity will be very different from western modernity
3 - We are moving into a world of contested modernity
4 - China will become the largest economy in the world within less than two decades and then proceed to rapidly out-distance that of the United States
5 - China’s impact on the world will not simply be economic; it will also have profound political, cultural and ideological effects.
6 - For thousands of years, China was at the centre of the tributary-state system in East Asia, which only came to an end with the arrival of European colonialism at the end of the nineteenth century
7 - As the East Asian economy is rapidly reconfigured around China, we should expect elements of the tributary system to reappear
8 - At its core, China is a civilization-state rather than a nation-state, a fact which will become steadily more apparent
9 - The Chinese state is very different from the western state: it has existed for over two thousand years, for over a millennium it has had no competitors (eg, church, merchants) nor limits to its power; it is regarded with reverence and deference by the Chinese as the guardian and protector of Chinese civilization
10 - The Chinese have a deep and living sense of their own culture and civilization which they regard as superior to all others
11 - 92% of the Chinese believe that they are of one race, the Han Chinese, unlike the other most populous nations such as India, the United States, Brazil and Indonesia, which recognize themselves to be highly multi-racial and multi-cultural
12 - The similarities between the communist period and the Confucian era are more striking than the differences
Reception
When China Rules the World caused a profound academic debate, as its narrative questioned the Western hegemony and the future of American power in the 21st century. The book was the choice of Larry Summers as his travel companion for 2010 World Economic ForumWorld Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
in Davos
Davos
Davos is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of 11,248 . Davos is located on the Landwasser River, in the Swiss Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Range...
. The book was praised in China and East Asian countries, where it was perceived by some pundits as the best and most understanding analysis of Chinese society and economics. Harvard professor Joseph Nye
Joseph Nye
Joseph Samuel Nye, Jr. is the co-founder, along with Robert Keohane, of the international relations theory neoliberalism, developed in their 1977 book Power and Interdependence. Together with Keohane, he developed the concepts of asymmetrical and complex interdependence...
has criticized the narrative of the book on American decline, and portrayed his more optimistic vision of the power 21st century in his book The Future of Power.
Fareed Zakaria
Fareed Zakaria
Fareed Rafiq Zakaria is an Indian-American journalist and author. From 2000 to 2010, he was a columnist for Newsweek and editor of Newsweek International. In 2010 he became Editor-At-Large of Time magazine...
recommended the title as the book of the week of his show Fareed Zakaria GPS
Fareed Zakaria GPS
Fareed Zakaria GPS is a weekly public affairs show hosted by journalist and author Fareed Zakaria. As of November 2011, the show airs Sundays at 10am Eastern Time and 1pm Eastern Time on CNN. The show also airs Sundays at 1200 and 1900 GMT on CNN International...
on November 21, 2010. Zakaria noted "China is going to change the western dominated world we are all comfortable with. Whether you agree with it or not, this is a very forcefully written lively book that is full of provocations and predictions." Harvard economic historian Niall Ferguson
Niall Ferguson
Niall Campbell Douglas Ferguson is a British historian. His specialty is financial and economic history, particularly hyperinflation and the bond markets, as well as the history of colonialism.....
praised the book by writing: "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."