The Foreign Service Journal, March 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2021 89 into certain subtopics. Barry Naughton on the Belt and Road Initiative, Katherine Morton and Srikanth Kondapalli on Beijing’s use of current international organizations and its creation of new ones, and Michael Yahuda on the differ- ing leadership styles of Deng Xiaoping and Xi are just a few examples. Another is Shambaugh’s own thought- provoking chapter on the key external challenges China will face in the next decade. His exploration of why a rising China has so little soft power is especially enlightening and is a phenomenon con- founding to China itself. “To really possess soft power a coun- try’s culture and values have to … appeal beyond a country’s borders,” Shambaugh writes, providing examples of China’s self-inflicted wounds that have kept most countries untrusting and aloof (such as the “debt traps” of some BRI loans and the assertion of “rule by law” over “rule of law” in international organizations and trade). He traces these actions to the Communist Party’s tendency to treat other countries like it treats its people, believ- ing “that by controlling narratives … it can control behavior.” The sharp contrast between China and the United States in this area recalls Presi- dent Dwight Eisenhower’s simple but brilliant insight into how a great nation acquires soft power. In his 1961 farewell address, he said: “America’s leadership and prestige depend not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment.” In sum, China and the World provides an excellent baseline survey of the PRC’s foreign relations since 1949 and equips readers with the knowledge to better understand its future actions. The overriding takeaways are two: the fact that the shape and expression of future PRC foreign relations is critical but uncer- tain; and the hope that China will become comfortable enough with its prominence and strength to be a constructive and trust- worthy partner in global affairs. Such a transformation, if and when it comes, will be a very good thing—for both China and the world. Philip A. Shull is a retired Foreign Service officer who served multiple times in China and Hong Kong, including as minister counselor for agriculture at U.S. Embassy Beijing (2014-2016). Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he taught English in Taiwan and at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou. He is a retiree representative on AFSA’s Governing Board. Looking Beyond the Balance of Terror “Toward a More ProliferatedWorld? The Geopolitical ForcesThat Will Shape the Spread of Nuclear Weapons” A Report by Eric Brewer, with Ilan Goldenberg, Joseph Rodgers, Maxwell Simon and Kaleigh Thomas; Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Center for a New American Security, September 2020, 58 pages. Reviewed by Walter E. North “Nuclear threats are increasing, and regional security environments are becoming more tense, thereby creat- ing proliferation pressures.” That is the fundamental conclusion and the first of seven significant trends spotlighted in this insightful but sobering report by Eric Brewer and his co-authors. We should all be worried. That is especially so in the wake of the presi- dential election in a year of cascading