Book Club - Breaking the Engagement: How China Won & Lost America by David Shambaugh

ABSTRACT

For over five decades following the 1972 rapprochement between the United States and China, the two countries seemed to be steadily building a sound relationship, even accounting for periodic setbacks like the Tiananmen Square massacre. The last decade, though, has seen a sharp increase in tensions and a complete reorientation of American policies toward China―from "engagement" to "competition."

What happened? In Breaking the Engagement: How China Won & Lost America, esteemed scholar David Shambaugh examines the evolution, expansion, and disintegration of the American engagement strategy towards China.

Shambaugh attributes the recent sharp deterioration of relations to a combination of China's actions and American expectations. Xi Jinping's increasingly assertive foreign policy and domestic repression has directly challenged American interests. More deeply, he argues that the real underlying cause is America's longstanding paternalistic approach to transform China into a liberal state and society which conforms with the US-led global liberal order. When China has generally evolved in this direction― politically, economically, socially, intellectually, and internationally―it corresponds with American aspirations and the two could cooperate. But when Beijing pushes back against this transformative strategy―which Beijing sees as subversion―Americans become disillusioned and U.S. policymakers see China as a malign regime, which must be countered.

About the Author

David Shambaugh is a Professor of Political Science and International Affairs and founding Director of the China Policy Program in the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. He holds a continuing appointment as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow to the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations as well as other professional organizations. Professor Shambaugh is recognized internationally as an authority on China and has been named one of the most influential China experts in the US. 

He has authored two previous award winning is books on China, published more than 200 articles, is a frequent commentator in the international media, served as advisor to the United States government and several private foundations and corporations, and testified before the US Congress, the UK House of Commons, and the Canadian Parliament.   

Professor Shambaugh received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan, and M.A. in International Affairs from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and B.A. cum laude in East Asian Studies from The Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. He has been a visiting scholar at numerous international institutions abroad. 

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