Timely book about China’s rise to power and the reality behind its perceived threat to neighboring states and Western democracy FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / PRURGENT
ISBN #978-1839750144
“Dragon Diplomacy” by Abdul Razak Baginda is published by Grosvenor House Publishing
Timely book about China’s rise to power and the reality behind its perceived threat to neighboring states and Western democracy
About the Book:
Ever since China’s rise to global power status, a strong narrative has emerged to explain and assess the impact of the return of this once Middle Kingdom. Unlike other great civilisations, the Chinese have made a comeback and are, today, exerting their presence, in economic, political and military spheres. China is touted to not only challenge the might of the United States, but may even, surpass it. Following from this, a mainstream view point prescribes a much more hostile approach in dealing with China. China has to be contained, if not prevented from becoming the preeminent power in the future – replacing western dominance in world affairs.
This book tries to posit an alternative assessment of China’s rise. Due to the far-reaching impact of China’s economic and commercial arms, states have come to adopt a much more pragmatic approach, one that refuses to view this power in terms of a ‘threat’ perspective. A recognition of China’s greatness does not necessarily place countries into a straightjacket of being subservient or playing second fiddle to Beijing. In a globalised world, to avoid being caught in the middle of a clash between these two titans, the United States and China, seems the most prudent stance, while at the same time deriving benefits from both sides.
About the Author:
Abdul Razak Baginda was a senior associate member of St Antony’s College, Oxford as well as visiting fellow at Reikaku University, Japan. He received his doctorate in International Relations from the University of Oxford. He currently lives between London and Kaula Lumpur. He has published extensively, his latest being “China-Malaysia Relations and Foreign Policy”, published by Routledge (2015).
Excerpt from the book:
“It would appear that much of the threat perception debate over China centres on two inter-related factors – the position of states regarding the Western world, in particular the United States, and their belief that China will become the dominant global power and will subjugate them. While the first of these is based on reality, the second is more uncertain, built on fear of the unknown and based on assumption and conjecture. To some extent there is an element of the race factor here, which is perhaps the result of decades, if not centuries, of Western domination over others, notwithstanding the fact that most of these countries achieved independence over half a century ago. Despite China being in the East, there is still much negativity towards China, in favour of the West.
The question, therefore of who is afraid of China is a combination of reality and perception. While he prevalent reality is that most countries maintain reasonable ties with Beijing predicated mainly on economic and trading interests, underneath this veneer of cordiality lies some lingering suspicion. This is mainly based on the influence of the strong narrative that, in the future, China will be a powerful hegemon that may end up influencing, if not controlling, smaller, weaker states.”
“Dragon Diplomacy” by Abdul Razak Baginda is currently available in hardback from Amazon at:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dragon-Diplomacy-Analysing-Chinas-Rise/dp/1839750154
This excellent, informative book is also available in paperback at:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dragon-Diplomacy-Analysing-Chinas-Rise/dp/1839750146
Press/Media Contact Details:
Grosvenor House Publishing
Tel. 020 8339 6060
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