Book Review: The Elephant And The Dragon - The Rise of India and China and What It Means for All of Us

Posted on 16 October 2007

It’s almost daily now that I hear some reference, whether from the Western Media or otherwise, to China or India. If you’re currently on a modest diet of TV and Web news, you are well aware that jobs in the U.S. are threatened by off-shoring, that China is rapidly becoming the world’s factory, and that India is becoming the world’s back office. You probably also know that, because of rapid advances in Internet and other communications technologies, the world is “flattening.” I’ve you’ve been AWAKE at all this year, you know that pollution is going to be a global fight for the next 50-100 years because you’ve been exposed to the hype about global warming. What you may not know is how the heck things got to be the way they are today. This book, in combination with Friedman’s The World Is Flat, is a killer combo for anyone looking to put everything that’s going on politically and economically into sharp perspective. In elegant journalistic style, Meredith demystifies the rise of these two economic giants back on to the world stage. Not only does the book lay out clear road maps for the precise timing of major policy decisions made by Chinese and Indian Governments over the last century, it provides keen insights into the direct effects of those decisions for Chinese and Indian populations, as well as for the rest of the world. Along with series of cause-and-effect history lessons, Meredith enlightens us on subjects such as the overall benefit to U.S. consumers from off shoring practices, the evils of communist censorship on the internet, the reasons for (and effects of) rising military budgets in the East and West and how global wars are fought just as much with economic sanctions as they are with soldiers and tanks.

Finally, Meredith presents several convincing cases for the timing of and reasons behind the next major global battles to be fought by the world’s 3 super powers. Not surprisingly, the looming energy crisis, global warming and the battle for resources, including the fight for dwindling supplies of drinkable water, top the list of things the global community needs to focus attention on in the immediate term. Overall, a fantastic, informative read - one that will help anyone wanting to truly understand how we got in this mess speak intelligently about the next-big issues in global politics.