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Join eminent China scholar David Shambaugh (Tangled Titans: The United States and China and Charting China's Future) in conversation with Orville Schell, Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at Asia Society as they discuss Shambaugh’s latest book, China Goes Global. Followed by a book sale and signing.

Most global citizens are well aware of the explosive growth of the Chinese economy. Indeed, China has famously become the "workshop of the world." Yet while China-watchers have shed much light on the country’s internal dynamics —  China’s politics, its vast social changes, and its economic development — few have focused on how this increasingly powerful nation has become more active and assertive throughout the world.

In China Goes Global, David Shambaugh delivers the book that the world has been waiting for. Thirty years ago, China’s role in global affairs beyond its immediate East Asian periphery was decidedly minor and it had little geostrategic power. As Shambaugh charts, though, China’s expanding economic power has allowed it to extend its reach virtually everywhere — from mineral mines in Africa, to currency markets in the West, to oilfields in the Middle East, to agribusiness in Latin America, to the factories of East Asia. Shambaugh offers an enlightening look into the manifestations of China’s global ambitions: its extensive commercial footprint, its growing military power, its increasing cultural influence or "soft power," its diplomatic activity, and its new prominence in global governance institutions.

But Shambaugh is no alarmist. In this balanced and well-researched volume, he argues that China’s global presence is more broad than deep and that China still lacks the influence befitting a major world power — what he terms a "partial power." He draws on his decades of China-watching and his deep knowledge of the subject to expound on China's current and future roles in the world affairs. 

“David Shambaugh provides a thoughtful look at the nature and consequences of China's rise in this carefully researched and well-written volume.” — Henry A. Kissinger

David Shambaugh is Professor of Political Science and International Affairs and Director of the China Policy Program at George Washington University.  He is also Nonresident Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Studies Program at the Brookings Institutions. Shambaugh is a recognized international authority and author on China. His most recent books include Charting China’s Future: Domestic & International Challenges; China’s Communist Party: Atrophy and Adaptation; International Politics of Asia; and Power Shift: China and Asia’s New Dynamics.  He also previously served as Editor of The China Quarterly (the world’s leading journal of contemporary Chinese studies).

Orville Schell is the Arthur Ross Director of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations. He is a former professor and Dean at the University of California, Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. Schell is the author of 14 books, nine of them about China, and a contributor to numerous edited volumes and major magazines.

This program is part of Asia Society’s year-long programmatic focus on China, China Close Up. Through major exhibitions and programming in arts and culture, policy, and business, Asia Society explores China’s vibrant past and present as a window onto its exciting future.

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Co-presented by the Center on U.S.-China Relations