China: Fragile Superpower

Once a sleeping giant, China today is the world's fastest growing economy, a turn-around so dramatic, and with repercussions so wide-ranging, that it has dazzled, bewildered, and alarmed many Westerners. As Susan L. Shirk's China: Fragile Superpower reveals, the real danger lies not in China's astonishing growth but in the deep insecurity of its leaders. Their anxious reactions to the violent protests in Tibet and the horrific Sichuan earthquake on the eve of the Olympics high-light the troubling paradox they face: the more developed and prosperous the country becomes, the more insecure and threatened they feel.

Shirk, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State responsible for China, knows many of today's Chinese rulers personally and has studied them for three decades. She offers invaluable insight into how they think-and what they fear. Readers of this book will see the world through the eyes of men like President Hu Jintao and former President Jiang Zemin. We discover a regime desperate to survive in a society turned upside down by astonishing economic growth and a startling openness to the outside world. China's leaders closely track public opinion on the Internet and constantly worry that citizens could turn against them. The tragic earthquake in Sichuan Province demanded unprecedented governmental transparency and inspired civic mobilization not seen since the events in Tiananmen Square-but are China's leaders confident enough to sustain this openness or will they revert to control? In the midst of this tumultuous time, China: Fragile Superpower offers an illuminating and sure-footed guide to the country whose destiny is now inextricably tied up with our own.

Aboutthe Author:
Susan L. Shirk is Director of the University of California's Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, and Professor at UC-San Diego