Fragile Rise : Grand Strategy and the Fate of Imperial Germany, 1871--1914 Hardback

Germany's rise to power before World War I from a Chinese persective, and the geopolitical lessons for today. A series of solemn anniversary events have marked the centenary of World War I.

Could history repeat itself in today's geopolitics? Now, as then, a land power with a growing economy and a maritime power with global commitments are the two leading states in the international system.

Most ominously, the outbreak of war in 1914 is a stark reminder that nations cannot rely on economic interdependence and ongoing diplomacy to keep the peace. In Fragile Rise, Xu Qiyu offers a Chinese perspective on the course of German grand strategy in the decades before World War I.

Xu shows how Germany's diplomatic blunders turned its growing power into a liability instead of an asset.

Bismarck's successors provoked tension and conflict with the other European great powers.

Germany's attempts to build a powerful navy alienated Britain.

Fearing an assertive Germany, France and Russia formed an alliance, leaving the declining Austro-Hungarian Empire as Germany's only major ally.

Xu's account demonstrates that better strategy and statesmanship could have made a difference-for Germany and Europe.

His analysis offers important lessons for the leaders of China and other countries.

Fragile Rise reminds us that the emergence of a new great power creates risks that can be managed only by adroit diplomats, including the leaders of the emerging power.

In the twenty-first century, another great war may not be inevitable.

Heeding the lessons of Fragile Rise could make it even less likely.