The rapid economic rise of the People's Republic of China (PRC) since the late 1970s and its continued high rates of economic growth have sparked great interest in its political, cultural, social, and economic systems. Jeremy Friedman in Shadow Cold War and Gregg Brazinsky in Winning the Third World offer two engaging histories that afford readers a glimpse into how China became the great power it is today. Along with the United States, the USSR was the other great power of the 20th century, with China well behind. But China, according to Brazinsky will be the greatest rival of the United States in the 21st century. Tracing the dynamics between these three superpowers since the end of the Second World War, and their struggle to capture the hearts and minds of the developing and nonaligned world, both Brazinsky and Friedman shed light on the great-power relations of today.
Both books...