Reviews for China At The Crossroads

The average rating for China At The Crossroads based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-06-13 00:00:00 Jonathan Hopkins This book was written in 2002 and is an entry into the debate of whether China should engage in greater opening of its markets, i.e. free markets, or whether it should remain an authoritarian state. As with most sino-scholars, the answer is to point out the vagrancies of the free markets and show that in fact, this could be the single worst thing for China. While, yes, I agree, I am not the biggest fan of using problems in the US to illustrate the problems with capitalism. Indeed, I would suggest that if people looked at the similarities in economic development instead of pointing out the differences, the nuances of the conclusion might be interesting. This is not to say that Nolan crosses the line. I suspect that much of his commentary is in reaction to those that believe Adam Smith so passionately that they forget that the US is in fact, not a free market according to his definition; but instead, a highly regulated, highly developed system; that has evolved over centuries. I'm not sure either that that path of Europe serves as a good description either of the path that China must take. The arguments here are only modestly better than a comparative of China to Singapore, Hong Kong and the like. I wish instead that these scholars would look more for the sign posts and address the issues as they stand, suggesting systems from other nations as tools, and not as potential paradigm shifting philosophies of thought. In other words, China, in the 6 years since the writing of the book, has and will continue to open its markets. Simply, it will not do it in the foolish way that other nations have, which exposes it to the vagrancies of the FX and "fast" money capital inflows. These show a destabilizing effect regardless of the history/culture of a nation. Otherwise, I have to admit that Nolan is a true expert. He does a fantastic job of weaving in the historical elements of China with the current state of affairs. the amount of research that must have been required for this rather brief 180 page-ish book is significant and for that I give it four stars.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-12-11 00:00:00 Ignacio Villasenor An excellent overview of the history of political power in Pakistan - from pre-Partition through to Musharraf. (That's the one caveat: the book was published before Musharraf stepped down, so it isn't quite up to date with current events.) Ali obviously has a history and vested interest in Pakistan - that's what makes The Duel incredibly engaging, with its anecdotes and awareness of political culture & society, and indeed Ali's personal relationships with many of the people in power. It does also mean that it isn't quite an objective analysis - though Ali never hides his political and ideological biases. In many ways, it's a book that would be impossible to write without this level of entanglement. A very readable and engaging insight into not only the ways in which American politics, resources and money have influenced Pakistan - but also the intellectual response of some in the subcontinent to this influence. The Duel is cynical and opinionated, but never hectoring - well worth a read. (Obviously, personally fascinating to read about the partition and various Indo-Pak wars from a Pakistani perspective as well!)