No one really understands China.
Less than one hundred years after the Cultural Revolution, China is, arguably, the most powerful state in the world. A nation once ravaged by war and poverty, the world's most populous country has blossomed to extents never before seen in history, its meteoric rise to global superpower status quite literally taking the world by storm. How did a nation that a century ago seemed on the brink of tearing itself apart emerge as the planet's second-largest economy, a booming blend of ancient culture and urban sprawl where communism and capitalism at once battle and blend under the stalwart fist of the CCP? And what does the future hold for those nations who must now share the stage with this force on the rise, walking the line of adversary and ally on military, economic and political fronts? In many ways, the future of China will dictate the future of the modern world, and how the rest of us respond to its continued growth will define whether that future will be one of cooperation, coexistence, or outright conflict. As China leads the charge into a new technological age, one where wars are fought with computer chips, empires are built in mines, and the dawn of artificial intelligence challenges the very nature of what being human means, that future seems closer than ever.
With striking clarity and poignant prose, Peter Mattis and Cheryl Yu carve their way to the heart of what makes China tick. In their groundbreaking investigation into the world's newest superpower, covering everything from the Chinese Communist Party's axis of power to the far reaches of the country's foreign ambition, Mattis and Yu present a picture of China as it has never been seen before. In Red Horizon, we discover China from the inside out, an interconnected nation where economic goals, military might, and the life of the average citizen go hand in hand, driven by a universal doctrine of patriotism and power with its eyes always on the big picture: the singular goal of Comprehensive National Power. Tracing its emergence as a spearhead of science - from critical minerals to data chips, high speed trains to stealth bombers - they explore how China's technological ambition is about so much more than innovation, and how its continued tech dominance could shape the entire Earth.