I haven't had opportunity to do a book review in this column for many months, but one title recently caught my eye while I strolled through my local bookstore: Understanding China, by John Bryan Starr. (Hill & Wang, 448 pps., $17.95) What this says about my browsing habits, we'll leave unspoken—but anyone looking for a better grasp of why China behaves the way it does should start reading immediately.
Starr, a political science professor at Yale University with a long history of studying China, presents the book more as a series of written lectures. The prose is clear but uncompromising; he doesn't hesitate to get complex when he needs, and assumes the reader is a serious, well-educated mind who can keep up. But like a good lecture, the words also flow forward at a steady speed and pull you along. This is non-fiction writing at its best, with a tone and gravitas that absorb the interested reader.
More important than the tone of the book, however, is the sweeping scope of what Starr addresses. Across 18 chapters that each can be read in one sitting, he unpacks all the basic history of China and the myriad problems it now faces. He starts with its geography and history, and then dissects the “party-state” structure of its modern communist government. Next comes a long series of close looks at China's problems and challenges: environmental degradation, economic inequality, instability of migrant labor, an immature legal system, a population implosion, uncertain relationships with Taiwan and Hong Kong, and more. All of these chapters can be read independently, but Starr also cross-references the various problems as he proceeds so you can see how one exacerbates the other.
Even better, this third edition of Starr's book was published only last year, so it encompasses all the economic, political and diplomatic reforms that have brought China into the contemporary age. By the time you finish it, you should have the understanding of China that I believe is correct: a country with huge potential and tremendous problems coming to fruition in the next 30 years, that both dwarf what the United States can expect in the same time. Sure, China could become a vibrant, healthy, economic superpower by 2040—but just as likely, it could collapse under demographic, environmental and political tensions that are far worse than anything America will encounter any time soon.
I don't need to elaborate the obvious, that today's chief compliance officer has a global job that requires extensive knowledge of foreign cultures. Visiting China (which I've done twice) is of course the best way to understand what China is. But to understand why China is how it is, and what's likely to come next—that's still a tall order, and you need all the help and counsel you can get. So put Understanding China on your reading list and prepare for a hearty helping of insight into the country that affects us all, whether we like it or not.