Product Description
Will the U.S. go to war with China over Taiwan or oil? Yes-bestselling authors Ed Timperlake and Jed Babbin say Chinese aggression is virtually inevitable and in their new book, “Showdown”, they address the threat of mainland China and Bush’s promise to defend Taiwan – at any cost. “Showdown” offers indispensable strategies and tactics for the U.S. to respond to the Chinese military threat in this ongoing battle for democracy and freedom.
Showdown: Why China Wants War with the United States
China is growing in economic power and with that will come a greater desire to become more dominant in world politics and affairs. Along with this will come a greater emphasis on military might to not only protect its internal interests, but to project its power around the world. The United States cannot simply assume that its Superpower status will remain unchallenged. Certainly, other nations have already realigned to “balance” our interests. China has interests, goals, and purposes different from ours and from those of its neighbors. It will insist that its interests influence the course of future events just as we do. How those interests will play out remains to be seen. However, it would be foolish to assume that American interests will carry the day in the future as they have for the past century. China has every right to advance its own goals in the world and we ignore that reality to our disadvantage.
This book is a series of military scenarios that show how China’s interests and how the military power they have been building in many areas could play out in key strategic areas such as Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and for oil in the Middle East. The authors show how not only standard military operations of submarines, surface ships, land forces, manned jets, and missiles might be used, but also the effect of cyber warfare including the paralysis that would follow the use of EMP weapons.
I do not believe the authors are trying to predict the future in this book. Nor do I personally believe that war with China is likely or inevitable. However, the stories do make clear the strategic and tactical considerations we must think about as China’s power continues to rise. The authors also make clear that China does not have to “win” these conflicts with us in order to advance their purposes and China has shown a wiliness over its history to accept losses if the outcome advances their goals and enhances their future position. Patience is something they understand and apply as a tactic as well as a virtue.
The authors also show how a policy of half-measures and dithering while assuming a powerful competitor is “just like us” and simply wants to talk is a foolish policy for America to take. While we talk, they make off with the goods. The last forty-six pages reprint a government report on China’s military growth that was written in 2005. This report is worth the whole book. Everyone should read it and take it seriously
Again, I am not saying China is our enemy and we need to prepare for imminent war. However, they are not our family or friend either. They are a rising power and will soon be a great power in the world. They are likely to have an economy as large as ours or even larger (still smaller per capita) in the decades to come. We simply need to wake up and take a strong approach to the strategic realities they represent in their competition for markets, resources, and influence. This is an interesting book to help the reader see that through stories of hypothetical military conflict.
Rating: 4 / 5
I purchased this book and was anxious to read it but I must say I was very disappointed. The book contains an appendix which is just a report issued by the Pentagon to Congress regarding the Chinese military. The report is interesting – but anyone can download it for free from the DOD website. Wasted pages to make the book seem more substantial than it really is.
The various war scenarios with China are very poorly written and somewhat juvenile. Imagine a bad made-for-TV movie and you will get a good idea of what this book is like.
People can debate about whether or not China really wants war with the United States, but this book is not the one to start the discussion.
Don’t waste your time on this one!
Rating: 1 / 5
This book is an eye opener of the first magnitude and so interesting that I finished it the day after it was delivered. The authors, Babbin and Timperlake, use a captivating mixture of fact reporting and fictionalization to produce a strong argument for being prepared for a future war against China. Contrary to some assertions, the facts speak for themselves.
The fact is that China and the United States have an insatiable need for finite oil supplies that, in the near future, will engender competition at best and conflict at worst.
The fact is that China is engaged in a military modernization and buildup program that is unrivaled since Nazi Germany.
The fact is that China has threatened the United States with war if we intervene in their planned annexation of Taiwan.
The fact is that China is developing a wide range of offensive weapons systems, including cyber-warfare and anti-satellite systems.
The fact is that our “allies,” in Europe are willing to sell sophisticated weapons systems to the Chinese without regard to the dangers associated with doing so.
This book is well researched and sourced. It clearly distinguishes between the chapters that are non-fiction and those that represent fictionalized accounts of possible conflict scenarios. It is highly readable and enjoyable.
I would also like to point out that, as a former Reagan Republican, I’ve vehementently disagreed with many policies of the Bush Administration, but oddly enough, their China policy seems reasonably coherent. There is much, however, that remains to be done.
Rating: 5 / 5
“Showdown” is an unusual book. In between being a well-documented description of China’s emergence as a superpower and providing some practical ideas on how to avoid a war, the authors have included a series of fictional chapters describing scenarios of how war with China might erupt, be fought, and end. Though the fiction is as riveting as a Clancy novel (and in much the same style), the results aren’t what you’d expect. There’s not a lot of good news or chest-thumping over-the-top America can’t be beat nonsense. We lose some, we tie some, and only win a couple. It’s a terrific read, and a wake-up call as subtle as a bucket of ice water.
Rating: 5 / 5
There’s an old saying that predicting the future is difficult, but being right is hard. This book is an attempt to predict one future. It’s an excellent read, a combination of fictional senarios with observed data. It’s the conclusion he comes to that is rather hard to swallow.
The sub-title of the book says: ‘Why China Wants War with the United States.’ I’m afraid that I don’t believe this. Sure, China has some foreign poilicy ambitions. They is going to be friction between the US and China. But a full fledged war, I think unlikely.
The first senario, for instance, is what would be the real result of China’s attempt to take over Taiwan by military force. Would the US really go to a major war over Taiwan? What if the Taiwanese government decides that they want to join China, there is already a movement in Taiwan to do that?
One of the things he forsees is an ‘unholy alliance between Communist China and radical Islam. This I kind of doubt also. Under the Cultural Revolution under the pretext of unification of national education, Islamic schools were closed and their students transferred to other schools which taught only Marxism and Maoism. Other outrages included the closing of over 29,000 mosques, the widespread torture of imams, and executions of over 360,000 Muslims. I don’t see the radical Islamic people quite so easy to forgive and forget and to enter an alliance.
Very interesting reading, but a big time war, I don’t think so. I hope we are smart enough to not get involved with a land war in China. And they don’t have the blue water navy capable of doing much to us.
Rating: 5 / 5