Financial Cold War

A groundbreaking exploration of US-China relations as seen through the lens of international finance Rising tensions between China and the United States have kept the financial markets on edge as a showdown between the world’s two largest economies seems inevitable. But what most people fail to recognise is the major impact that the financial markets themselves have had on the creation and acceleration of the conflict. In Financial Cold War: A View of Sino-US Relations from the Financial Markets, market structure and geopolitical finance expert James Fok explores the nuances of China-US relations from the perspective of the financial markets. The book helps readers understand how imbalances in the structure of global financial markets have singularly contributed to frictions between the two countries. In this book, readers will find: A comprehensive examination of the development of financial markets in both China and the US, as well as the current US dollar-based global financial system Insightful observations of the roles of technology, innovation, regulation, taxation, and politics in the markets, and on their resulting effect on US-Sino relations Thorough explorations of the role of Hong Kong as an intermediary for capital flows between China and the rest of the world Suggestions for how, balancing the many varying interests, policymakers might be able to devise effective strategies for de-escalating current Sino-US tensions Financial Cold War is a can’t-miss resource for anyone personally or professionally interested in the intersection of economics and international relations, financial markets, and the infrastructure underlying the international financial system.

A groundbreaking exploration of US-China relations as seen through the lens of international finance Rising tensions between China and the United States have kept the financial markets on edge as a showdown between the world’s two largest economies seems inevitable. But what most people fail to recognise is the major impact that the financial markets themselves have had on the creation and acceleration of the conflict. In Financial Cold War: A View of Sino-US Relations from the Financial Markets, market structure and geopolitical finance expert James Fok explores the nuances of China-US relations from the perspective of the financial markets. The book helps readers understand how imbalances in the structure of global financial markets have singularly contributed to frictions between the two countries. In this book, readers will find: A comprehensive examination of the development of financial markets in both China and the US, as well as the current US dollar-based global financial system Insightful observations of the roles of technology, innovation, regulation, taxation, and politics in the markets, and on their resulting effect on US-Sino relations Thorough explorations of the role of Hong Kong as an intermediary for capital flows between China and the rest of the world Suggestions for how, balancing the many varying interests, policymakers might be able to devise effective strategies for de-escalating current Sino-US tensions Financial Cold War is a can’t-miss resource for anyone personally or professionally interested in the intersection of economics and international relations, financial markets, and the infrastructure underlying the international financial system.

Money is changing and this may mean a new world order. David Birch sets out the economic and technological imperatives concerning digital money, and discusses its potential impact. Tensions will inevitably arise: between old and new, between public and private, and, most importantly, between East and West. This book contributes to the debate that we must have to shape the International Monetary and Financial System of the near future.

Traces the history of the Marshall Plan and the efforts to reconstruct western Europe as a bulwark against communist authoritarianism during a two-year period that saw the collapse of postwar U.S.-Soviet relations and the beginning of the Cold War.

Praise for Strategic Capitalism “Richard D’Aveni understands that managing competition between the United States and China—and their quite different forms of capitalism—will occupy leaders on both sides of the Pacific for decades to come and will shape the first half of the 21st century more than any other factor. This book is a welcome addition to a vitally important debate.” —Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group and author of Every Nation for Itself “Understanding the pluses and minuses of modern ‘capitalism,’ in more than a sloganeering way, is the great challenge for corporations and for government from North America to Europe to East Asia. Strategic Capitalism is a valuable contribution to clear thinking about this imperative.” —James Fallows, The Atlantic, and author of China Airborne “Professor D’Aveni is a business provocateur extraordinaire. He tells you the straight scoop and will never cave to conventional wisdom unless there is proof that it is right. Strategic Capitalism is another example of D’Aveni’s ability to synthesize a complex topic down to its key elements.” —Bill Achtmeyer, Founder, Chairman, and Managing Partner of The Parthenon Group The Capitalist Cold War Has Begun The United States and its economic allies are under attack by a force unlike any they have ever faced. China and other emerging nations are competing for markets around the world using their own versions of capitalism—and, thus far, they are winning handily. In Strategic Capitalism, one of the world’s leading authorities on global business strategy, Richard D’Aveni, describes how the “economic cold war” began, how it is being played out now, and how the West can change the course of events in its favor. Brilliantly conceived—and sure to ignite passions on both sides of the political aisle—Strategic Capitalism calls for an end to the economic idealism that dominates the national dialog. It also calls for a cold, hard focus on reality, which is this: government-managed capitalist systems consistently outmaneuver and outperform the traditional laissez-faire capitalism of the West. With refreshing levels of thoroughness, knowledge, and detachment, D’Aveni describes the competitive landscape today. These are the facts: The world’s best competitors—with China in the lead—have adopted elements of managed capitalism, in which government and businesses work together toward a single aim. China’s objective is clear—to displace the United States as the world’s economic leader by becoming the global rule maker. If the West does not act soon, it stands to lose everything it holds most dear: financial prosperity, economic freedom, geopolitical power, national security, and even democratic values. This is disruptive innovation on a global scale. But instead of companies using breakthrough products and brands to gain market share, nations are devising “game-changing” economic systems to seize influence over—and beyond—the global economy. Bleak as the situation may be, D’Aveni contends that the West can reverse the trends currently tilting the global balance of power. In order to meet the challenges of the future, America must revisit long-held assumptions about economics and economies, seriously consider radical alternative policies, and embrace the concept of Strategic Capitalism.

Red Money for the Global South explores the relationship of the East with the “new” South after decolonization, with a particular focus on the economic motives of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) and other parties that were all striving for mutual cooperation. During the Cold War, the CMEA served as a forum for discussions on common policy initiatives inside the so-called “Eastern Bloc” and for international interactions. This text analyzes the economic relationship of the East with the “new” South through three main research questions. Firstly, what was the motivation for cooperation? Secondly, what insights can be derived from CMEA negotiations about intrabloc and East‒South relations alike? And finally, which mutual dependencies between East and South developed over time? The combination of analytical narrative and engagement with primary archival material from former CMEA states, and India as the most prestigious among the former European colonies, makes this text essential reading for students and instructors of Cold War history, Economic History, and international relations more generally.

Communist and capitalist states alike were scarred by the economic shocks of the 1970s. Why did only communist governments fall in their wake? Fritz Bartel argues that Western democracies were insulated by neoliberalism. While austerity was fatal to the legitimacy of communism, democratic politicians could win votes by pushing market discipline.

Examines the politics of intellectual life during the Cold War, and the effects of U.S. intelligence and propaganda agencies on academic culture and intellectual life

"An engrossing and impossibly wide-ranging project . . . In The Free World, every seat is a good one." —Carlos Lozada, The Washington Post "The Free World sparkles. Fully original, beautifully written . . . One hopes Menand has a sequel in mind. The bar is set very high." —David Oshinsky, The New York Times Book Review | Editors' Choice One of The New York Times's 100 best books of 2021 | One of The Washington Post's 50 best nonfiction books of 2021 | A Mother Jones best book of 2021 In his follow-up to the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Metaphysical Club, Louis Menand offers a new intellectual and cultural history of the postwar years The Cold War was not just a contest of power. It was also about ideas, in the broadest sense—economic and political, artistic and personal. In The Free World, the acclaimed Pulitzer Prize–winning scholar and critic Louis Menand tells the story of American culture in the pivotal years from the end of World War II to Vietnam and shows how changing economic, technological, and social forces put their mark on creations of the mind. How did elitism and an anti-totalitarian skepticism of passion and ideology give way to a new sensibility defined by freewheeling experimentation and loving the Beatles? How was the ideal of “freedom” applied to causes that ranged from anti-communism and civil rights to radical acts of self-creation via art and even crime? With the wit and insight familiar to readers of The Metaphysical Club and his New Yorker essays, Menand takes us inside Hannah Arendt’s Manhattan, the Paris of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, Merce Cunningham and John Cage’s residencies at North Carolina’s Black Mountain College, and the Memphis studio where Sam Phillips and Elvis Presley created a new music for the American teenager. He examines the post war vogue for French existentialism, structuralism and post-structuralism, the rise of abstract expressionism and pop art, Allen Ginsberg’s friendship with Lionel Trilling, James Baldwin’s transformation into a Civil Right spokesman, Susan Sontag’s challenges to the New York Intellectuals, the defeat of obscenity laws, and the rise of the New Hollywood. Stressing the rich flow of ideas across the Atlantic, he also shows how Europeans played a vital role in promoting and influencing American art and entertainment. By the end of the Vietnam era, the American government had lost the moral prestige it enjoyed at the end of the Second World War, but America’s once-despised culture had become respected and adored. With unprecedented verve and range, this book explains how that happened.

Drawing on recently declassified documents and extensive interviews with Soviet and American policy-makers, among them several important figures speaking for public record for the first time, Ned Lebow and Janice Stein cast new light on the effect of nuclear threats in two of the tensest moments of the Cold War: the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and the confrontations arising out of the Arab-Israeli war of 1973. They conclude that the strategy of deterrence prolonged rather than ended the conflict between the superpowers.