“What does China think?” - A new book by Mark Leonard

In his latest book “What does China think?“, foreign policy expert Mark Leonard, argues that China is emerging as a powerhouse of ideas about politics, economics and world order, and gradually changing from a traditional authoritarian state to a new ‘deliberative dictatorship’.

The book contends that the Chinese model of globalisation could reshape the face of Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, and charts the development of a new Chinese world view in which different factions are battling for influence:

- The “New Left” who want a gentler form of capitalism with a social safety net that could reduce inequality and protect the environment;

- The “New Right” who think that freedom will only come when the public sector is dismantled and sold off, and a new, politically active “propertied class” emerges;

- The “Neo-Comms”, cousins of American neo-cons, want to use military modernisation, cultural diplomacy and international law to assert China’s power in the world.

Mark Leonard argues that in the future, the West will be just as interested in the Chinese “Neo-Comms” plans for Asia as it is now in the “Neo-Cons” attempts to reshape the Middle East. Soon, the political struggle in the Communist Party will be seen as vital as the battle between US presidential contenders; and protesters outside the World Bank will complain as much about the “Beijing Consensus” as they do about the “Washington Consensus”.

Listen to a discussion on BBC Radio 4’s Start the Week, recorded on 11 February, 2008.