Tangled Titans

The United States and China

Edited by David Shambaugh George Washington University

Publication date:

09 August 2012

Length of book:

454 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Dimensions:

231x161mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781442219694

Tangled Titans offers a current and comprehensive assessment of the most important relationship in international affairs—that between the United States and China. How the relationship evolves will have a defining impact on the future of world politics, the Asian region, and the citizens of many nations. In this definitive book, leading experts provide an in-depth exploration of the historical, domestic, bilateral, regional, global, and future contexts of this complex relationship. The contributors argue that the relationship is a unique combination of deep interdependence, limited cooperation, and increasing competition. Never in modern history have two great powers been so deeply intertwined—yet so suspicious and potentially antagonistic toward each other. Exploring this cooperative and competitive dynamic, the contributors offer a wealth of detail on contemporary Sino-American relations unavailable elsewhere. Students will find Tangled Titans essential reading to understand the current dynamics and future direction of relations between the world’s two most important powers.

Contributions by: Rosemary Foot, Charles W. Freeman III, Bonnie S. Glaser, Avery Goldstein, Yufan Hao, Harry Harding, G. John Ikenberry, Terry Lautz, Dawn Murphy, Shelley Rigger, David Shambaugh, Robert Sutter, Ashley J. Tellis, Nancy Bernkopf Tucker, Christopher P. Twomey, and Wu Xinbo.


Distinguished Sinologist Shambaugh (George Washington Univ.) edited this volume and provided an opening chapter on conceptualizing the US-China relationship. He posits that the relationship between the US and the People's Republic of China involves an uneasy and ever shifting blend of cooperation and competition, coining the term "coopetition." Therefore, policy makers in both countries face the daunting tasks of simultaneously managing competition and maximizing cooperation. Shambaugh has recruited 15 recognized international scholars to assess the dynamics of these US and Chinese interactions. In an effective format, these scholars address the manifold aspects of the relationship: the theoretical, the domestic, the bilateral, the regional, and the global contexts. On the basis of these analyses, a distinguished Chinese academic and then a distinguished American scholar evaluate "Visions of the Future" in the relationship between these "tangled titans." A valuable work that will be not outdated soon, it belongs in all serious academic libraries. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections.