Understanding China: Dangerous Resentments

About the Book

The United States has been the world’s dominant super power for the last 70 years. It sets the rules for international relations and seeks to maintain the status quo. That situation is changing. China is expected to equal the United States in power within two decades, and relations between the two have become increasingly confrontational. American policy makers need to understand Chinese attitudes formed during 4,000 years of their history--as leaders of civilization until 1800--and then as impotent objects of exploitation and derision for the next 100 years. The Chinese have strong resentments against the nations of the West, resentments that pose a danger of future conflict unless American policy makers understand and attempt to mitigate them. Any evaluation of China’s future actions that omits its long history treats relations between the two countries as mere questions of economic tensions, military power, and super-power ambitions. While these factors are important, so also is cultural memory. This book presents a concise but complete overview of Chinese history up to 2014 and indicates crucial lessons that should be drawn in order to facilitate peaceful trade and cooperation.

About the Author

George Du Bois has been an avid student of history for the past 50 years, both professionally and for personal pleasure. He grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He received his B.A. from Cornell University, where he first studied Chinese history. He obtained the degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence in 1957 from the University of Virginia, where he taught a course on labor law. His first book was Cross-Class Alliances and the Birth of Modern Liberalism: Maryland’s Workers, 1865-1916. He also taught in independent schools for many years, including courses on Chinese history. He obtained his Ph.D. in history from the University of Maryland in 1995. The present volume is the product of eight years of research and writing. The author of several articles on historical topics in The Torch magazine, Du Bois lives with his wife in Frederick, Maryland.