The light that failed: Why the West is losing the fight for democracy

Abstract

through big picture analysis. Energy security is the exception. The details, even at the most granular level, are key to understanding how energy security concerns affect Chinese foreign policy. Unfortunately, it is a topic that rarely features in popular publications, possibly due to the fact that the issue might be best communicated through a dashboard of graphs rather than thought-provoking essays. This leads to the whole topic of energy security being left very vague for most of the public, and likely for many in the field of international affairs as well. Maybe the biggest strength of this book is its ability to fill in these details, and build context for those interested in China. There are a few problems that are impossible to ignore in a thorough review of this book, unfortunately. First, Xi Jinping is referred to quite a few times as simply “Jinping.” It is hard to know what exactly to make of this, especially because, given the authors’ and editor’s expertise in the area, it seems extremely unlikely that they are unaware of Chinese naming conventions (the editor in fact is fluent in Mandarin). The second issue is that typos are so numerous throughout the book as to significantly affect comprehension in many places. Having noted these issues, this book is extremely helpful for anyone interested in China, and specifically those who would like to dive a little deeper into the details of issues affecting Chinese security.