These are uncertain times. The balance of power is continually shifting worldwide. In The Next Great Clash, Michael Levin presents evidence of a global political order on the verge of a historic power shift from West to East. A reemerging China is the only nation with the latent capacity to challenge American hegemony, and Levin demonstrates that such challenges to the status quo usually lead to war. Russia, even in its diminished capacity since the end of the Cold War, has deftly positioned itself as the swing player in a future conflict between the United States and China.Levin contends that, since the turn of the century, the global War on Terror has distracted the United States from these developments, as China and Russia draw closer together in an alliance that may well displace American primacy. The Next Great Clash, augmented by personal experience in China, Russia, and the United States, combines years of scholarly research and political analysis-along with a riveting and up-to-date history of Chinese-Russian relations. This bold and iconoclastic tour de horizon is a must-read for anyone interested in international affairs.

Argues that global trends portend a looming war between the United States and China, with Russia as the swing player.

TablesAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsChapter 1: IntroductionPart OneChapter 2: Eye of the Storm: The Theoretical LensChapter 3: U.S. Foreign Policy, the Debt Explosion, and Demographic TrendsChapter 4: Patterns in Chinese HistoryChapter 5: Taiwan: The TripwirePart TwoChapter 6: When Russia Met China: From the 1600s to 1911Chapter 7: Caviar and Chopsticks: The Republican Era in China (1911-1949)Chapter 8: Maotai and Vodka: The Communist DynastyChapter 9: After the FallChapter 10: In Concert with the AxisChapter 11: The Balance of PowerNotesBibliographyIndex