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Book Review
Thiam, Low Siew
Thiam, Low Siew
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n2011_2a_05.pdf
Adobe PDF, 113.91 KB
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Abstract
This is a singular book that only Dr. Henry Kissinger could have written. Dr. Kissinger titled the firstchapter of his book “On China”, “The Singularity of China” to contrast this “civilisational state” (in thewords of Martin Jacques, author of “When China Rules the World”) with American claim to“exceptionalism”. This is the belief that as the US was founded on democratic values, such as freedom and individual rights, it had the duty to proselytize these values to all of mankind. What makes this book so singular in the view of this reviewer, is that the author provides at least fourperspectives on US-China differences. These may have been written up by others separately, but only theinimitable Kissinger could have put together so cogently. Collectively, they make a powerful case for theneed to develop a foundation of trust and to build bridges of understanding between erstwhile opponents such as the US and China which are surrogates for the different ideas that spring from the Socratic andConfucian traditions.
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2011
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With permission of the license/copyright holder