"Cogently argued ... [an] excellent book really worth reading." ― James Kynge, Financial Times "Unflinching and historically grounded, provocative and richly researched, this refreshing, pioneering work delivers a necessary corrective to narrow thinking and relaxed timelines in dealing with China. Beckley and Brands’ ideas need to be embraced if we are to effectively manage differences emerging in the increasingly volatile relationship between our two nations." ― General Jim Mattis, U.S. Marines (ret.) and 26th Secretary of Defense "There is bipartisan consensus in Washington that China is the most important long-term strategic challenge for the U.S. Hal Brands and Michael Beckley powerfully argue that an enormously ambitious China is peaking now and confrontation is coming sooner than we think. This well-written, must-read book will add a sense of urgency to the national debate about strategic competition." ― Ambassador (ret.) Eric S. Edelman, former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy (2005？2009) "Brilliant and engagingly written, this warning by two outstanding scholars is especially timely in light of recent events. Are Americans ready for what may be coming? They will be better prepared if they read this book." ― Robert Kagan, author of The Ghost at the Feast: America and the Collapse of World Order, 1900-1941 "Russian aggression notwithstanding, China constitutes the most daunting challenge to U.S. national security and the liberal international order. In this brilliant and urgently important book, Hal Brands and Michael Beckley explain why the threat of war with China will likely peak in this decade―when China's global power and ambition for primacy are swelling just as it faces severe demographic, economic, and political strains on the horizon. Every U.S. foreign policy maker and thinker should read this book and heed their call to rapidly mobilize strategy, strength, and alliances to navigate through this danger zone." ― Larry Diamond, Mosbacher Senior Fellow in Global Democracy, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University "The authors have given us much to think about, and much of it is frightening. An authoritative, worrying analysis about the prospects for open conflict within the next few years." ― Kirkus "A provocative and noteworthy contribution to the debate over what the U.S. should do about China." ― Publishers Weekly