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China's spectacular rise over the past three decades is nothing short of monumental, and is one of the most important events in modern history. Its economic growth affects nations around the world, environmentally, politically and militarily. In By All Means Necessary, Elizabeth Economy and Michael Levi explore the unrivaled expansion of the Chinese economy and what has been required to sustain this meteoric growth. In the past twenty five years China has transformed from an impoverished country where peasants comprised the largest portion of the populace, by far, to a country of innovation, entrepreneurs and more millionaires than anywhere else in the world.
In the beginning, that growth was fueled by internal resources, but like every other major power in modern history China was forced to look outward to find the massive quantities of resources needed to maintain their economic expansion. It is now engaged in a far flung quest around the world for fuel, water, and land for farming, while their military secures sea lanes and focuses on advanced military technologies to protect their interests abroad. Clear, authoritative, and provocative, By All Means Necessary is a comprehensive account of where China's pursuit of raw materials may take them in the coming years-a crucial issue, not just for China, but for the whole world.
Introduction
Chapter 1 Going Global
Chapter 2 Driving Demand
Chapter 3 The Dirty Business of Mining
Chapter 4 Fueling Growth: The Politics of Energy
Chapter 5 The Thirst for Water
Chapter 6 Feeding China: the Hunt for Land
Chapter 7 Beyond the Developing World
Chapter 8 The Security Imperative
Chapter 9 Conclusion
Elizabeth C. Economy is the C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and Director of Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. An expert on Chinese domestic and foreign policy, her most recent book was The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenge to China's Future.
Michael Levi is the David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow and Director of the Program on Energy Security and Climate Change at Council on Foreign Relations. An expert on the global politics and economics of energy, resources, and the environment, his most recent book was The Power Surge: Energy, Opportunity, and the Battle for America's Future.
"[A] wide-ranging and richly informed look at how the rapid growth of the world's most-populous country is affecting the global economy [...] According to the authors, in other words, China's supposedly pending economic takeover of the world's resources is more hype than reality. Ms. Economy and Mr. Levi [...] range from commodity to commodity and sector to sector to show that China's economy and culture are being changed at least as much by the world as China is exerting transformative change upon it."
– Howard W. French, The Wall Street Journal
"Elizabeth Economy and Michael Levi pen the shut-up-and-read-it book of the moment on Asia."
– Tom Keene, Bloomberg Businessweek
"This is the best analysis to date of the three-way economic and security game among China, other countries, and global market forces. With trenchant policy recommendations, it should be read by all those interested in China's impact on the world."
– Dennis Blair, former Director of National Intelligence and Commander in Chief, Pacific
"Will the 21st century be dominated by China in the same way that the last century was dominated by the United States? Economy and Levi have provided a compelling assessment of how supercharged and commodity-intensive growth in China has led to an unprecedented global buying spree for resources as varied as oil and gas, industrial metals and rare earth minerals, ores and coal, as well as farmland. China's foreign policy and global geopolitics have been influenced in tangible ways, but they argue convincingly that Beijing's motivations are not nefarious and the global system will find ways to curb feared excesses, even as the Middle Kingdom moves to secure the territorial seas around it and build a significant naval presence."
– Edward L. Morse, Head of Global Commodities Research, Citigroup
"If we are to intelligently manage China's resurgence, there are few areas more deserving of our attention than China's voracious global appetite for natural resources. In this well-written and insightful new study the authors vividly limn how China's restless quest for rejuvenation is simultaneously upsetting the old world order and demanding that the other countries develop new ways of understanding and interacting with it. For anyone wishing to come to terms with this aspect of China's rise, and the policy choices it raises for countries like the US, this is the go-to read."
– Orville Schell, Arthur Ross Director, The Center on US-China Relations, Asia Society
