3 Review(s)

Four Eagles and a Dragon: Successes and Failures of Quixotic Encirclement Strategies in Foreign Policy, is an analysis of the historical and contemporary struggle by the "New Empires" and their predecessors to surround each other militarily, diplomatically, economically, as well as with information and trade, all the while endeavouring to keep each other from doing the same. Although "quixotic," ostensibly intended for a noble purpose, each such encirclement succeeds only in prompting counter-encirclement and the expensive construction of defensive circles. Only one form of quixotic encirclement is self effective : cultural encirclement. That is because this type of encirclement alone is the product of individual choice instead of state imposition. In this book the "dragon" is China, itself an encircled and an encircling country, much in the same way that the "Four Eagles" are both encircled and encircling: the United States of America and the Russian Federation, plus the German Federal Republic and the Republic of Poland, representing the "old" st Europe and the "new " Europe. In the 21 century, we witness another "Great Game" being played out globally and particularly in EurAsia. Unlike its 19 century counterpart that involved some "old" European empires clumsily trying to expand their military influence into Asia, what we witness today is China aiming to expand its enormous financial influence into Europe, both East and West, the African continent, and the Western Hemisphere through the architecture of its "New Silk Road" and "New Maritime Silk Route." Risk of conflict is ever-present, so is the vast opportunity for cooperation. Although arguably facing challenges to its post - 1945 military, diplomatic , economic and informational hegemony, the West already has won therace to cultural hegemony, especially among the emerging generations of educated Asians, most particularly among the emerging generations of educated Asian females including high school girls, college women, and recent college graduates. They will be the parents of the children of the next generation, and so will ensure the continuity of this cultural encirclement.