Richard McGregor is a journalist and an author with extensive experience in reporting from east Asia and Washington. A 2015 fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., his work has appeared in the International Herald Tribune and Foreign Policy and he has appeared on the Charlie Rose show, the BBC, and NPR. His previous book, The Party, won numerous awards, including the 2011 Asia Society book of the year and the Asian book of the year prize from Japan's Mainichi Shimbun.
"McGregor is perfectly placed to analyze the crucial three-sided
relationship that defines the balance of power in the Pacific."
--Gideon Rachman, Financial Times (Best Books of 2017) "McGregor
has written a shrewd and knowing book about the relationship
between China, Japan and America over the past half-century. Among
much else, he shows how the world's top three economies are now
imprisoned by increasingly unstable dynamics, and not only in the
military realm. Though Mr. McGregor has pored over archives to put
together a hard-to-surpass narrative history of high diplomacy in
Asia, the strength of his book is its old-fashioned journalism, in
which empathy and explanation outweigh mere exposé. Indeed, Asia's
Reckoning has the aura of a 'tour-ender, ' the kind of conspectus
that foreign correspondents of a generation ago and further back
would put together after they had finished a multiyear stint in
some far-flung place. Here are insightful, detail-rich profiles of
everyone from Zhou Enlai and Henry Kissinger to Kakuei Tanaka and
Jiang Zemin."
--Robert D. Kaplan, The Wall Street Journal "A well-documented
account of the post-war triangular relations between China, Japan
and America. . . . McGregor [has] access to a range of archives and
memoirs beyond the reach and nuanced comprehension of most other
scholars. His narrative of relations and contacts between the
leading politicians and policy-makers in both [China and Japan],
and of America's interplay with the two, makes for a compelling and
impressive read. One notable feature is how often the Americans,
from Henry Kissinger to Barack Obama, seem to find their close
Japanese allies more irritating and harder to understand than their
Chinese counterparts, even as a rising China is coming to be seen
as America's greatest 21st-century challenger."
--The Economist "Sometimes a crisis hits that reminds us of the
need to think in terms of the interplay between multiple centers of
power, and of the value of books that do not confine themselves to
bilateral relations. The current furor over North Korea is one such
crisis, and Richard McGregor's skillfully crafted and well-argued
Asia's Reckoning is a good example of the sort of book I have in
mind. . . . The great strength of Asia's Reckoning, indeed, is that
it encourages the reader to look for continuities amid apparent
dramatic change, as well as subtle changes amid apparent
continuity. McGregor helps us appreciate the areas where leaders of
the US, Japan and China find it easiest and hardest to find common
ground. He also sensitizes us to the complex ways in which the
ratcheting up or loosening of tensions between Washington and Tokyo
or Beijing inevitably affects the strategies of leaders based in
the other east Asian capital. . . . An engaging, timely book that
provides a nice complement to important recent studies focusing on
two points of the US-China-Japan triangle."
--Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Financial Times "Tackles how the interplay
of Chinese assertiveness with Trump's dissolution of US power is
fundamentally altering the balance of power in this vast region. .
. . McGregor's brilliant book is packed with insights, especially
on the complex Sino-Japanese relationship, the gist of that being
that past history should be our teacher rather than master. Will a
more powerful China learn magnanimity, one wonders."
--Michael Burleigh, Evening Standard (Best Books of 2017 Selection)
"[McGregor] has a sharp eye for personalities and policy factions,
as well as a firm grasp of geopolitics. His fascinating narrative
of the three countries' relations over 50 years is filled with
fresh anecdotes drawn from interviews and newly released archival
documents. . . . Flinty realism has usually driven trilateral
diplomacy, but in McGregor's view, no factor has done more to
sustain the shape of the triangle than Japan's inability to allay
Chinese resentment over the depredations of the 1930s and
1940s."
--Andrew J. Nathan, Foreign Affairs "Undoubtedly the best book I
have read all year. . . . The main strength of McGregor's account
is that it shows how important history has become to relations in
the region. . . . One of the themes of McGregor's book is that
Americans think China is much easier to read than Japan, where they
find the corruptly byzantine politics and culture of indirection
frustrating. . . . Whether, psychologically, the USA can cope with
its relative decline and whether China can move to a more
magnanimous understanding of its role are the questions on which
peace and war in the region hinge."
--Michael Burleigh, Literary Review
"McGregor warns against underestimating the historic tensions
between China and Japan. Trade and tourism may run smoothly between
the two pragmatic, business-minded nations, but deep, mutual
dislike simmers under the surface. McGregor says it would not take
much of a trigger to disrupt the region's tentative peace. . . . An
excellent modern history book that explains the roots of the
complex political, business and military ties between major
superpowers. In an age of rocky global politics, Asia's Reckoning
provides the context needed to make sense of the region's present
and future."
--Joyce Lau, South China Morning Post "McGregor deploys interviews
with heavy hitters from all three countries and cites extensive
archival research to provide readers with a comprehensive look at
this often misunderstood trilateral relationship. Whether it's
Chinese Communist Party founder Mao Zedong thanking Tokyo for its
invasion of his country, or Japan's fears of being replaced by
China as America's top partner in Asia, or Henry Kissinger's
intense distaste for Tokyo's droll diplomats, McGregor mixes in one
little-known anecdote after another to pull readers through his
narrative. . . . Balanced and insightful, the book goes the extra
mile to delve into the minutiae of the relationships, taking
readers beyond mere Japanese peculiarities, Chinese propaganda and
American stereotypes. . . . This is an astute take on the three
nations' modern ties, serving up a much-needed and often overlooked
helping of the context necessary for making sense of Asia
complexities."
--Jesse Johnson, Japan Times "In Asia's Reckoning McGregor provides
a cogent and superbly researched guide to the deep forces that
undergird China's geo-political strategy and the attempts of two
other great powers in the region, the United States and Japan, to
deal with it."
--Peter Tasker, The Mekong Review "McGregor, an absorbing
storyteller, [takes] the reader behind the curtains to witness how
the history of China's ties with Japan and the US unfolded after
World War II. . . . [His] precise observations and incisive
analyses of the dynamics in the China-Japan-United States
relationship are valuable."
--Cheong Suk-Wai, The Straits Times "A must read for anyone who
wants to understand our future. Asia's Reckoning provides a
detailed picture of the slow military, diplomatic and economic
waltz between China, Japan and the United States that determined
the shape of the past half-century. . . . The framework that
previously determined the contours of our international engagement
is changing. McGregor [is] dealing with a subject that's
crucial--China's place in the world--but does so in an intimate
manner, bulging with insightful interviews with the players behind
the scenes."
--Nicholas Stuart, Brisbane Times "A compelling account of the
post-war relationship between China, Japan and America [that]
brings to life one of the world's most complicated love-hate
triangles."
--Clifford Coonan, The Irish Times "McGregor shows that U.S.
diplomats and military strategists have deftly played the
Sino-Japanese rivalry in the Pax Americana period since the end of
the Cold War. However, he is concerned that the tightrope is
becoming frayed and that if it breaks, all three performers could
be in for a terrible fall. . . . [Asia's Reckoning] has anecdotes
and insights that will delight policy wonks interested in the
region."
--Gary Anderson, The Washington Times "For journalists taking up
new posts in China, the first book I always suggest is Richard
McGregor's The Party. I will now add McGregor's new book, Asia's
Reckoning, to my list for those headed to the Far East."
--Melissa Chan, Los Angeles Review of Books
"In spite of the recent crisis with North Korea, the critical
relationship for Asian peace and stability in the 21st century will
be the trilateral balance between China, Japan, and the United
States. In spite of the economic interdependence of these nations,
their domestic politics and foreign policies often clash with their
trade interests, and the rise of China as both an economic and
military power now threatens to upend the entire East Asia security
structure. . . . This book is an essential primer for anyone
seeking to understand the complicated brew of history, politics,
and prejudices that make this area of the globe one of the most
likely flashpoints of the 21st century."
--Jeremy Lenaburg, New York Journal of Books "McGregor anatomizes
the dynamic, often strained trilateral relationship between China,
Japan, and the U.S. since WWII. His informed volume comes at a time
when, in his opinion, East Asia sits at the heart of the global
economy and China's aggressive foreign policy is upsetting the
region's stability. . . . Often critical of Washington's
'combination of idealism and arrogance, ' McGregor offers detailed,
vivid descriptions of America's Asian diplomacy. . . . Reviewing
East Asia's toxic rivalries with balance and insight, McGregor's
survey concludes ominously with President Trump's lack of
familiarity with regional issues and disdain for old alliances,
portending further tensions in East Asia's future."
--Publishers Weekly "[A] wide-ranging study of China's re-emergence
as a regional power in Asia after a long hiatus, thwarting the
designs of other powers, including the United States and Russia. .
. . The U.S. [finds itself] firmly ensnared in the so-called
Thucydides trap, 'the principle that it is dangerous to build an
empire but even more dangerous to let it go.' So it is, and the
current leadership appears to be at a loss about what to do or to
formulate other aspects of any coherent policy in and toward Asia.
. . . Geopolitics wonks will want to give attention to this urgent
but nonsensationalized argument."
--Kirkus Reviews "The United States, China, and Japan form the
power triangle that will shape much of the international politics
in the 21st century. Richard McGregor's masterful The Party
illuminated one corner of that triangle--China. In this important
book he describes how the other two corners have interacted with
China since World War II. Lucid, insightful and ominous, as the
author describes big trouble ahead."
--Eliot Cohen, author of Supreme Command
"Richard McGregor's new book is essential reading for anyone
worried about the most fraught relationship in Asia--between China
and Japan. With extensive experience in and knowledge of both
China, Japan, and the United States, McGregor is in a unique
position to unpack the relationship and sort through the extensive
propaganda and myth-making on all sides. A great read!"
--John Pomfret, author of The Beautiful Country and the Middle
Kingdom "McGregor distills years of meetings with high officials in
China and Japan to give a vivid nuanced picture of their relations
in the 21st century."
--Ezra Vogel, author of Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of
China "An in-depth depiction of radical changes and challenges in
Japan-China relations in the post-war period, thoroughly researched
and rich in storytelling. In the course of tumultuous relations
with China, Japan has had to trail blaze in the face of the rise of
China. Japan's naked exposure to the unfolding Realpolitik with
China at its core is for the first time comprehensively
reviewed."
--Yoichi Funabashi, former Editor-in-Chief, Asahi Shimbun
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