Breaking the Engagement: How China Won & Lost America

The Elliott School Book Launch Series and Sigur Center for Asian Studies are pleased to present the book launch for: Breaking the Engagement: How China Won & Lost America featuring author, Professor David Shambaugh. About the Book 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. This is the book we have all been waiting for: the definitive history of the sea change in American policy toward China during the past half century from engagement to competitive rivalry. Shambaugh's book is objective, detailed, and valuable reading for everyone worried about the future of US-China relations. -- Susan Shirk, Emeritus Chair, 21st Century China Center, UC San Diego David Shambaugh is one of today's most respected and influential thinkers on China. His decades of research, teaching and leadership in the field make for an unparalleled dive into the development and fracturing of the world's most important bilateral relationship. If understanding our past reveals much about our future, then this brilliant analysis should be considered required reading in understanding one of history's most consequential geopolitical megatrends. -- Jon Huntsman, Former Ambassador to China, Russia, Singapore, and Governor of Utah The U.S. sees China as the pacing challenge in our strategic competition. But China is also a puzzle. Why did our strategy of Engagement fail? No one is better placed to solve this puzzle than David Shambaugh in this well-informed and very readable account. Anyone interested in our great power competition with China must read this book. -- Joseph S. Nye, Former Dean of the Harvard Kennedy School About the Author David Shambaugh is an internationally recognized scholar and award winning author on contemporary China and the international relations of Asia. An active public intellectual and educator, he serves on numerous editorial boards, and has been a consultant to governments, research institutions, foundations, universities, corporations, and investment funds. He is currently the Gaston Sigur Professor of Asian Studies, Political Science, and International Affairs at George Washington University, and Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He previously was Reader in Chinese Politics at the University of London's School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), where he also served as Editor of the prestigious journal The China Quarterly.