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Books BrothersAuthor: booksbrothers
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Japan, India, China: What Kissinger Gets Right About the World's Next Superpower Fight
Episode 20
Monday, 6 April, 2026
In Part 2 of our coverage of Henry Kissinger's World Order, Andrew and JD turn the Eye of Sauron east, tracing how Japan, India, and China each entered (or were dragged into) the modern international order, and what that history means for how they behave on the world stage today. From Commodore Perry's gunboat diplomacy and Kautilya's ancient blueprint for global domination, to Mao's Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping's economic pragmatism, and the Opium Wars that still shape China's worldview, this episode covers the deep historical roots of modern Asia's relationship with the West. Then we pivot to America itself: how Teddy Roosevelt's peace-through-strength realism and Woodrow Wilson's liberal internationalism became the two poles of U.S. foreign policy, how the League of Nations failed, and why the Straussian reading of Kissinger suggests that containment, not victory, has been America's real strategy ever since Korea. We wrap with the big question Kissinger leaves on the table: what is the right world order, and is the U.S. still the one to build it? 00:00:00 Intro and Asia overview 00:03:18 Japan: isolation, Commodore Perry, and the rise to empire 00:04:59 India: Kautilya, colonialism, and Cold War free agency 00:09:27 Chapter 6: China from the Qin dynasty to Mao and Deng 00:17:08 China vs. USA: sovereignty, human rights, and Kissinger's contrast 00:19:36 Chapter 7: The United States and Its Concept of Order 00:27:08 Woodrow Wilson, the League of Nations, and collective security 00:33:57 Chapter 8: Truman, NATO, Korea, and the question of what comes next 📖 Book covered: World Order by Henry Kissinger (2014) 🎙 Hosted by Andrew and JD Dennison Like and subscribe, and drop a comment telling us which book you'd like us to cover next.
