Conservatism and the Kissinger–Mao Axis

Lai Sing Lam is an independent scholar.

• Part I: Background of Kissinger’s Doctrine of Balance of Power in ActionThe Postwar International Environment: The American-Soviet-Chinese TrianglePart II: The Kissinger-Mao Axis2 Conservatism and the Materialization of the Kissinger-Mao Axis The Kissinger-Mao Axis I: The Integration of Kissinger’s Balance-of-Power and Mao’s Global Order of Tripolarity: Mao’s Ping-Pong DiplomacyThe Kissinger-Mao Axis II: Mao’s Modernization Revolution and Deng the Successor The Kissiner-Mao Axis III: The Post-Dengist Economic Development: Deng’s “Good- Neighborly” Policy and the Rise of ChinaPart III: The Volatile Asia Pacific in the New Century The New American Containment of ChinaPart IV: The Volatile Europe in the New CenturyThe New US-led NATO Containment of the Rising RussiaPart V: The New Global Order of Bipolarity of the 21st Century8 The SCO and Counter-Containment of the West

Lai Sing Lam draws on his deep appreciation of the role that history plays in diplomacy by showing, in Conservatism and the Kissinger-Mao Axis, how the historically-informed strategic ideas of the two central protagonists aligned in the early 1970s to shape the contemporary international order. As it traces the story of the tripolar world order emerging after the creation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, and its transformation into a bipolar world order after 1996, this book offers fresh insights into Mao’s thinking. Its stress on the deeply conservative foundations of both Kissinger’s and Mao’s positions is a useful antidote to romantics and revolutionaries alike. For those of us keen to understand the logic of China’s current strategic moves, and how we got here, this book is essential reading.