Excellent study of Asia Pacific Security Dynamics

A Contest for Supremacy is a book that could be equally appealing to either researchers on the history of bilateral Sino-American relations, and those interested in contemporary security issues. For the latter category it would be recommended to skip the first five chapters and concentrate on the last six. However, the book in itself is thoughtful and comprehensive, and merits being read in its entirety. Friedberg takes an approach that seems to be both a combination of Real Politik and an ideological Neo-Liberalist Democracy centric approach. Friedberg discusses in depth the security concerns of China's neighborhood, and comes to the entirely rational conclusion that the future shape and intentions of China is impossible to predict, and therefore balancing and containment should remain the focus of US policy. Although Friedberg abstains from predicting any kind of Democratic transformation of China, he nonetheless takes the position that a Democratic China could be less predictable or accomodating of US interests than a One Party China. Nonetheless, Friedberg still takes the rather ideological position that the US should establish an Asian Democratic Club, similar to Robert Kagan's proposed League of Democracies, as a counterweight to the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, which Friedberg dubs an autocratic club. Though this book predates the change of leadership in 2012 and is still in the Hu Jintao era, nonetheless the fundamental security dynamics remain unchanged. Friedberg's approach is an interesting mix of ideology and political realism, which may not be to everyone's agreement, but nonetheless he provides a very good security centric exploration of Sino-American relations, recommended for international relations or security specialists alike.