★★★★★ 3
Misses some important context, but a solid book
Format: Audiobook
I can't give it the 3.5 stars it deserves. Smith is an outstanding writer and has long view China as an adversary that we intentionally do not pay attention to given the elites make large amounts of money working with the CCP. In this book he demonstrates that happened from the get go, starting with Kissinger. Rarely, if ever, were American interests ever viewed as the lens with which to see China, only as a way to make money for power brokers and businesses alike. He points to Trumps long standing opposition to the way the international trade system evolved and the way it harmed middle class Americans.
All of this is outstanding, but the book loses many points trying to cover for terrible protectionist economic policies. We certainly may have gone too far in hollowing out the industrial base, but 100% of Americans benefitted from lower price and more selections. It is not the purpose of the book, but a look at overall US business policy has been to harm Amercians, one need look no further than mass immigration, legal and illegal that drive down wages at the lower/middle end. Nor does the book bother with looking at general business mindless following each other for yet another new fad, from six sigma to who moved my cheese. Again, not what the book is about, but he tries to make the claim that all of this is China and elite policy driving toward this outcome when that data is not supported.
Overall, it is a better than worse book that one should read if for no other reason than to see how far we have actually bent over for China for gains that are mostly illusory for business access. That China still uses the elites to gain access not just to markets but US citizen minds is the real problem. Smith does a good job pointing that out
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Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2025
