Haunted by Chaos

AnÊAmerican Interest Book of the Year

ÒReaders will not find a shrewder analysis as to why the Chinese act as they do.Ó
_Robert D. Kaplan

ÒAn outstanding contribution to our understanding of that most urgent of contemporary geopolitical questions: what does China want?Ó
_Rana Mitter

Before the Chinese Communist Party came to power, China lay broken and fragmented. Today it dominates the global stage, and yet its leaders have continued to be haunted by the past. Analyzing the calculus behind decision making at the highest levels, Sulmaan Wasif Khan explores how ChinaÕs leaders have harnessed diplomatic, military, and economic power to keep a fragile country safe in a hostile world. At once shrewd and dangerous, Mao Zedong made China whole and succeeded in keeping it so while the caustic Deng Xiaoping dragged China into the modern world. Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao were cautious custodians of DengÕs legacy, but Xi Jinping has shown a mounting assertiveness that has raised concern across the globe.

ChinaÕs grand strategies, while costly, have been largely successful. But will this time-tested approach be enough to tackle the looming threats of our age?

ÒWritten with verve and insight, this will become the go-to book for anyone interested in the foundations of ChinaÕs grand strategy under Communist rule.Ó
_Odd Arne Westad, author of The Cold War

ÒKhanÕs brilliant analysis will help policymakers understand the critical rise of ChinaÉCrucial if we are to avoid conflict with this emerging superpower.Ó
_Admiral James Stavridis, former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO

ÒKhan argues that since before the PeopleÕs Republic of ChinaÕs founding, Chinese rulers have held remarkably consistent objectives, even as their definition of security has expanded.Ó
_Mira Rapp-Hooper, War on the Rocks