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This Brave New World: India, China, and the United States Paperback – March 21, 2017
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In the next decade and a half, China and India will become two of the world’s indispensable powers—whether they rise peacefully or not. During that time, Asia will surpass the combined strength of North America and Europe in economic might, population size, and military spending. Both India and China will have vetoes over many international decisions, from climate change to global trade, human rights, and business standards.
From her front row view of this colossal shift, first at the State Department and now as an advisor to American business leaders, Anja Manuel escorts the reader on an intimate tour of the corridors of power in Delhi and Beijing. Her encounters with political and business leaders reveal how each country’s history and politics influences their conduct today. Through vibrant stories, she reveals how each country is working to surmount enormous challenges—from the crushing poverty of Indian slum dwellers and Chinese factory workers, to outrageous corruption scandals, rotting rivers, unbreathable air, and managing their citizens’ discontent. “Incisive…lively and accessible…Manual shows us that an optimistic path is possible: we can bring China and India along as partners“ (San Francisco Chronicle).
We wring our hands about China, Manuel writes, while we underestimate India, which will be the most important country outside the West to shape China’s rise. Manuel shows us that a different path is possible—we can bring China and India along as partners rather than alienating one or both, and thus extend our own leadership in the world. This Brave New World offers “a thoughtful analysis…and a strategy for keeping it from turning violent” (The Wall Street Journal).
- Print length384 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateMarch 21, 2017
- Dimensions8.66 x 5.91 x 0.98 inches
- ISBN-101501121987
- ISBN-13978-1501121982
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“A thoughtful analysis of this Asian contest and a strategy for keeping it from turning violent. As a co-founder of a consultancy formed by Condoleezza Rice, Stephen Hadley and Robert Gates, [Manuel] enjoys access to top policy figures, and much of what is new in the book comes from her conversations with senior officials in China and India. Ms. Manuel highlights the mounting dissatisfaction with corruption among the upper and middle classes of both countries.”
― The Wall Street Journal
"A fresh take on American relations with India and China . . . This Brave New World does as much as any book I’ve read to stitch all the different threads together. . . . treating potential adversaries with empathy and choosing the non-cynical perspective—like Manuel’s—is a precondition for [a] better world." -- Andrew Small ― War on the Rocks
“By turns alarming and encouraging . . . Manuel delineates with clarity [why] the U.S. must attend closely to . . . harmonious future relations with China and India." ― Kirkus Reviews
“This Brave New World beautifully portrays the two rising powers that will do much to shape this century. Anja Manuel weaves together colorful vignettes of Chinese and Indian life at all levels with keen policy insight about engaging both countries, all in one readable and informative book. If you have room for just one book in your suitcase on your way to China or India—this is the perfect candidate.”
—Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State
“This is, above all, a portrait of the century to come, and the vital role that America must play in the world’s most important diplomatic dynamic. With her knowledge of India and China, Anja Manuel demystifies our disagreements, separates insecurities from aggressions, and makes a powerful case that American interests are served not by bemoaning the rise of Asia, but by fostering and shaping its success.” —Evan Osnos, author of Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China
“China and India together comprise over a quarter of the world’s population. The fate of their people and the conduct of their governments will shape global politics and the fate of the planet itself. This Brave New World is wonderfully written, with compelling stories and a powerful thesis. It combines history, politics, and personal stories about both countries in an engrossing book that outlines two very different possible futures… Should be in the library of all foreign policy experts, business readers, and anyone interested in world affairs.”—Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America Foundation, author of Unfinished Business: Women Men Work Family
“Engaging, deeply researched, at times heartbreaking and funny, Anja Manuel has created a tour de force of what makes China and India tick. She condenses a vast amount of learning into a lively narrative for busy readers. This Brave New World should be mandatory reading for anyone doing business in or traveling to either country, or who merely wants a thoughtful, optimistic glimpse into our global future.”—Meg Whitman, President and CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise
“Anja Manuel has written an elegant and insightful guide to America’s future. How should we engage India and China on all the big challenges ahead? This is an impressive and important book, a fascinating read, and a powerful call to action.”—Nicholas Burns, Professor, Harvard University and former Under Secretary of State
“[A] concise, informed book on the potential benefits and hazards of a new world economic order that promises to be anything but orderly….Ms. Manuel outlines positive steps enlightened American leadership could take to create her envisioned ‘brave new world’ of peaceful cooperation.” ― The Washington Times
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Simon & Schuster; Reprint edition (March 21, 2017)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 384 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1501121987
- ISBN-13 : 978-1501121982
- Item Weight : 12.8 ounces
- Dimensions : 8.66 x 5.91 x 0.98 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #580,885 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #623 in Asian Politics
- #2,686 in U.S. Political Science
- #5,943 in Economics (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

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Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book insightful and well-researched. They describe it as a great, enjoyable read that neatly ties together a number of issues. The narrative is clear and easy to understand. Readers appreciate the valuable perspective regarding U.S.-India-China relations and economic growth. They find the pacing compelling and refreshing, with first-hand reporting from Manuel's time working in India. Overall, customers describe the book as entertaining throughout.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book insightful and well-researched. They appreciate the personal stories and historical context that provide a clear introduction to global politics for the US, India, and China. The author provides an excellent overview of world leadership and their political systems.
"...Ms. Manuel poses a critical foreign policy question at the crossroads of either facilitating or resisting the global economy and makes a convincing..." Read more
"...The author gives a readable introduction to global politics for the US, India and China with respect to one another...." Read more
"...work in the US State Department and as a private consultant, she weaves an exciting, provocative and delightfully readable web of inter-connected..." Read more
"...This book is better written and deals with more real and global issues. They say that there are nearly 10 million species on planet earth...." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's readability and insights. They find it an enjoyable, important read for Americans interested in foreign affairs and anyone doing business or working in Asia. The perspectives make it a great primer into today's dynamic relationship.
"...It's not only a good book, but also an important one...." Read more
"...This is a brilliant, readable and important book that provides a potential blueprint for a US foreign policy that could make the world a better..." Read more
"...There is a great new book that I am reading and it is called, "The Annihilation of Nature, Human Extinction of Birds and Mammals"...." Read more
"...Well, this book delivers...." Read more
Customers find the book readable and entertaining. They appreciate the clear writing style and narrative that includes anecdotes from the author's own experiences. The book provides a concise overview of the dynamics among the three giants, with no pretentious language. Readers appreciate the author's skills as a speaker translating smoothly into her writing.
"...like the economist, little is new, but the book is a concise readable overview so if one wants to remind themselves of some of the issues this is an..." Read more
"...she weaves an exciting, provocative and delightfully readable web of inter-connected forces that will determine the outcome of crucial issues of..." Read more
"...This book is better written and deals with more real and global issues. They say that there are nearly 10 million species on planet earth...." Read more
"...book builds a rich and detailed portrait of its topic through well written anecdotes and stories from Manuel's own experience at the state..." Read more
Customers find the book offers a valuable perspective on US-India-China relations and economic growth. They say it provides a compelling base for U.S. engagement with China and India, offering a new perspective.
"...structuring the histories, political hurdles, and cultural legacies of China and India in the face of their differences - while conveying in this..." Read more
"...It ultimately provides a compelling base upon which she builds her conclusion that there are alternative approaches to for the US to partner with..." Read more
"...which the three countries can travel in a way that is good for their respective economies, people, and neighbors." Read more
"The book was interesting. The rise of China and India, with their large populations, is an important development of the last few years which will..." Read more
Customers find the book's pacing compelling and easy to understand. They say it provides a realistic perspective on the future of the US and India through well-written, detailed descriptions. The book is filled with fresh first-hand reporting from Manuel's time working in the field.
"...The book builds a rich and detailed portrait of its topic through well written anecdotes and stories from Manuel's own experience at the state..." Read more
"...Well, this book delivers. It is filled with fresh, first-hand reporting from Manuel's time working in China and India - first for the State..." Read more
"...Anja Manuel breaks down complex political histories into a compelling, colorful, and easy-to-understand narrative...." Read more
"...Manuel's stories about China and India are compelling, fun, eye-opening and really draw the reader in...." Read more
Customers find the book entertaining throughout.
"...This approach makes for a very readable and entertaining book on a topic that might seem dry in the hands of another writer...." Read more
"...This book is a fun, enjoyable read; and also deeply practical, teaching us how to move forward in a world that is changing in a direction we would..." Read more
"...Manuel's stories about China and India are compelling, fun, eye-opening and really draw the reader in...." Read more
"...Disturbing at times and entertaining throughout, this is a must-read for anyone living on this planet today." Read more
Reviews with images
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A MUST READ!
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2016After seeing part of the author's interview with Charlie Rose, I was compelled to buy this book. It's not only a good book, but also an important one. Ms. Manuel poses a critical foreign policy question at the crossroads of either facilitating or resisting the global economy and makes a convincing argument for the former. She is plain spoken in structuring the histories, political hurdles, and cultural legacies of China and India in the face of their differences - while conveying in this current year the similar problems shared with each other as well as the United States. She slips the reader into the empathetic shoes of humanity like a shoe horn. Education, economic growth, and social welfare programs to promote stability each are striving to attain. It is presented in a way that reveals the insular challenges in governing. She discusses the intricacies of one party rule in China that shows its unique form of checks and balances within it; and how its top-down approach differs from India's bottom-up parliamentary democracy. As in any society, political opposition exists and is also discussed; and the mitigation within each country is like apples and oranges in an Asian basket.
Nevertheless, a familiar ring can be heard in considering the efforts of government to manage reforms in circumstantial conditions. China is faced with an aging population (by 2030 there will be more Chinese over 60 years of age than presently exist in the entire U.S. population); and by that time there will be more Indians than Chinese. Corruption is also a common problem; transparency creep has surfaced in the Chinese media despite the Communist Party's stringent regulations; and national efforts to improve the lives of India's lower castes are thwarted by scheming local power brokers in their federal system. However, the most common thread among these three countries is also the common denominator regarding political stability, which relies on policy directives that retain the confidence of the governed (Yes, even in China).
- Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2016This Brave New World gives an overview political and economic relationships between India, China and the US. The book argues in favor of globalization and the ways in which all major economic powers should work together for an improved world for all concerned. The author spends a lot of time trying to give context to the perspectives of both China and India so that their policy framework can be properly contextualized. From reading this one gets a sense of why China and India often act the way they do with respect to one another as well as the US and in addition the reader should gain a greater sympathy for the concerns of these countries with respect to foreign policy and global distribution of power.
The book is split into three parts. The author starts out with a section called setting the scene. The author discusses the histories of China and India briefly and spends some time on the personal histories of both Modi as well as Xi and the times they grew up in. Of course the India of the 70s and China during the cultural revolution are important episodes to consider when thinking about what framed the perspective of the leaders of both countries. The author also spends some time on the economic take off that is occurring in both and the business climate of both countries and how they can differ along with the attitudes of both companies and leaders. The author then gets into the more substantive part of the book - Building a brave new world. The author describes the political economy of both India and China and where growth has taken place. The author also discusses the highly topical issue of corruption and its crackdown in China. The author discusses the narratives around the clampdown on corruption as cleansing a system as well as on how it could be a consolidation of power. The author discusses the generational differences of those in China in particular. The author spends sometime on the growing concern of the environment as China has become the largest CO2 emitter globally and the changing perspectives on each countries role on a global scale. The author highlights the concerns of emerging markets that are producing a minority of CO2 that western countries have emitted over their lives as well as on a per capita basis. The author ends with a section titled stepping into the world stage in which she sets out to address the role of India and China on setting global priorities and the growing importance of diplomacy. The author discusses the resource issues faced as well as the growing military issues from the South China sea as well as the outdated institutions used to frame global coordination problems. The author is very clear in discussing the need to incorporate the views of China and India in the global market and that isolationism is worse for everyone.
The author gives a readable introduction to global politics for the US, India and China with respect to one another. The political, economic and environmental issues that come with the global growth of the last 25 years are framed clearly and evenly. I would say the discussion is pretty basic and if one has read on these topics from magazines like the economist, little is new, but the book is a concise readable overview so if one wants to remind themselves of some of the issues this is an ok place to go. The economics is weak at times, the author argument of what China's growth rate will be is far too simplistic to follow but all in all this is a reminder of the benefits of trade and open political discourse.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2016After months of involuntary exposure to uninformed rhetoric in the US presidential campaign regarding foreign policy and current international turmoil, "This Brave New World" presents an essential, informative and illuminating picture of the future world order. Anja Manuel provides a personal but incisive analysis of past and present forces at work in China and India as well as in the US and Europe. These are the factors that will influence political, economic and social evolution creating the world order of the future. From her personal contact with government, business and industrial figures during her work in the US State Department and as a private consultant, she weaves an exciting, provocative and delightfully readable web of inter-connected forces that will determine the outcome of crucial issues of power balance, economic stability, trade policy, energy, water, pollution and climate change. From anger about internet hacking and corruption in China to compassion regarding starvation and poverty of India to frustration over outsourcing of US industrial production our major concerns are discussed and future responses are proposed. This is a brilliant, readable and important book that provides a potential blueprint for a US foreign policy that could make the world a better place and enable civilization as we know it to survive and flourish.
Top reviews from other countries
- NastyReaderReviewed in India on April 13, 2018
5.0 out of 5 stars A book with unique perspective on new world order !!!
What an attempt by Anja for bringing the book to life.
- Mark Dean emailsReviewed in Australia on September 29, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars A classic of course ...
Whether you buy this as a present for someone or for your own reading, it would be a great choice. I have read this book several times and love it. Get it, read it, share it.
- Adrian J. SmithReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 16, 2016
5.0 out of 5 stars An important book on great power relations for decades to come
Anja Manuel, a former State Dept Official and now a founding partner of a Strategic Consulting Firm, sets out a cautious, yet surprisingly optimistic, overview of great power relations in the decades to come, with the added dimension that India's rise is given less attention than it is rightfully due, and that more attention should be given toward India's role in the world. This is not to say that the book is India-centric, nor China-centric, rather it is evenly balanced on both China and India.
A central message of the book is to not view power relations in zero sum terms, and try to increase co-operation between China and India.
Although India, as the book points out, has an economy only 1/5 that of China, it is still too geographically and demographically important to be left out of great power relations. China and India have much distrust, owing to an unresolved border dispute and economic competitiveness, but can be co-opted into power relations for a more harmonious world.
An important message one takes away is the importance of military relations, and how there is much need to begin managing military contact and dialogue among the powers.
It is clear that civilian control over the Chinese military is not anywhere near as firm as Zhongnanhai would like to believe. Among incidents pointing toward such a reality were the unveiling of a new Fighter Jet during the US Defense Secretary's China visit, unbeknownst to China's then President Hu Jintao, and Chinese soldiers crossing the line of actual control into India during a bilateral summit between Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi.
An important point one takes home is that the Chinese military is sworn by loyalty to the Communist Party, not the Constitution like in India and the US, and they are regularly fed a historically tailored view of the world with outside powers seeking to contain and divide China. Despite it's loyalty to the party, the PLA has frequently functioned with great autonomy throughout it's history.
Anja Manuel provides a few instances of incidents that led to misunderstanding, and has proposed greater intra military contact and dialogue to prevent such misunderstanding.
While the book takes a more benign view of India and it's intentions and temperament, Manuel is still cautious of viewing India as a reliable ally, pointing out that India has an incredibly erratic and obstructive voting record at the UN.
However, while China, and to a lesser extent, India, may have their unease about a Western crafted world order, they don't necessarily wish to overturn it, rather they simply seek to amend it. Manuel points out that important agreements have been achieved, such as agreements on cyber security and intellectual property protection, which while inadequate, point that co-operation and negotiation are headed in the right direction.
Anja Manuel's book is a message of the importance of co-operation. It is not pessimistic, nor is it naive, rather it addresses how a better world order can be achieved through co-operation and understanding between the three countries who are destined to be the key players in the world order that is to come.
- BrettReviewed in Canada on June 20, 2016
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Well written book that makes it easy to understand all the political layers involved in it. The chapter by chapter topics too makes them easy steps to take in for a big picture understanding. Her writing style is kind of story-book like with real life stories, interesting character descriptions and a personal touch of her own experiences. One of the smoothest, most informative reads I've had in a long time.
- J. Padilla D.Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 18, 2019
4.0 out of 5 stars The view of s US diplomat on India and China
This book is much more focused on China than India, but still is a useful reading for those interested in these countries from a socio-economic-political point of view. (Having travelled to both countries this year, may I add that India and China have very little in common. The latter is light-years ahead of the former, and India is not even on the same path to development as China - in fact is is stagnated in many respects).