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C.H.BECK
C.H.Beck Fall 2023, 1 year ago

Collision

Matthias Naß

China, the USA and the Struggle for Global Political Supremacy in the Indo-Pacific

A turning point in the Indo-Pacific With the attention of the world firmly fixed on Ukraine, a much bigger conflict is brewing thousands of kilometres away: in the Indo-Pacific, China and the USA are on an extremely dangerous collision course. Who will achieve global political supremacy in the 21st century – the capitalist democratic West or the state-capitalist autocratic regime in China? The island of Taiwan, which Xi Jinping’s China lays claim to, is the domino that could cause the entire security architecture of Asia to come crashing down. Matthias Naß, who has been reporting on Asia and the Pacific for the paper Die Zeit for 40 years, outlines the causes and course of the conflict, and paints a forceful and nuanced portrait of the players involved and their interests.

The sabre-rattling in the Indo-Pacific is growing ever louder. US cruisers are crossing the Taiwan Strait at regular intervals, Chinese military units are building artificial islands in the ocean. Their purpose is unmistakeable, and both sides are trying to intimidate the other with manoeuvres at sea. Neighbouring nations like Australia, Japan and Indonesia are becoming increasingly nervous and are closing ranks in their fear of a power-hungry China, whilst Beijing is weaving a dense web of regional dependencies and ruthlessly enforcing the dominance in Hong Kong that it also wants to achieve in Taiwan. One thing is for certain: whoever emerges victorious from this struggle in the new centre of gravity of the world economy will become the new global hegemon.

• The collision course between China and the USA

• The outcome of the struggle for geopolitical supremacy in the 21st century will be decided in the Indo-Pacific

• For the West, the most fundamental freedoms are at stake

• Matthias Naß explores the biggest power-political challenge of our times

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26.90 EUR

Published by C.H.Beck , ISBN: 9783406808456

ISBN: 9783406808456