On China

April 18, 2011
In this canny, engaging historical study, the ex-secretary of state examines China's foreign policy for insights into its statecraft and soul. Kissinger (Crisis) recaps China's geo-strategic wei qi matchâhis ubiquitous metaphor for the subtle positioning characteristic of the national board gameâfrom the Korean War to today's trade disputes, emphasizing the relationship with the U.S. as it moved from bitter enmity to cordial interdependence. He grounds his narrative in a penetrating analysis of age-old features of Chinese policy, emphasizing the Middle Kingdom's hauteur, wariness of encirclementâto the Chinese, he argues, America is just another barbarian horde to manipulateâand dread of domestic disorder. As an architect of Nixon's opening to China and a freelance go-between for later administrations, Kissinger is a major figure in the story, and the text often revolves around exegeses of his cryptic dialogues with Chinese leaders. The book therefore oozes Kissingerian realism, with its stress on great power machinations, international balance, and high-stakes summitry and its impatience with human rights strictures; a deadpan wit and cold-blooded candor flash out from clouds of diplomatic euphemism. Though it sometimes feels like a mind game between mandarins of many stripes, and Kissinger's generalizations about Chinese national character can also sound outmoded, this insider's account sheds a revealing light on the contours of Chinese-American relations.

It's easy to forget that 40 years ago, China was a somewhat isolated country with no interest in reaching out to the rest of the world. Kissinger was an architect of the policy that helped China become the nation it is today. Narrator Nicholas Hormann's voice doesn't move very much from a recitation of the facts, but that works within the context of Kissinger's words. Hormann succeeds because the story doesn't need any embellishments such as attempts on his part at vocalizing Mao Zedong or Richard Nixon. He varies his tone to move the book forward, and his diction and pacing allow us to reflect on what he's reading without getting lost in the details. At over 20 hours, there are plenty of details. R.I.G. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine