Accidental Conflict: America, China, and the Clash of False Narratives

The misguided forces driving conflict escalation between America and China, and the path to a new relationship

"A timely, fluid, readable assessment of a testy and rapidly changing global relationship."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

A Financial Times Best Book of the Year: Economics

In the short span of four years, America and China have entered a trade war, a tech war, and a new Cold War. This conflict between the world's two most powerful nations wouldn't have happened were it not for an unnecessary clash of false narratives. America falsely blames its trade and technology threats on China yet overlooks its shaky saving foundation. China falsely blames its growth challenges on America's alleged containment of market-based socialism, ignoring its failed economic rebalancing.

In a hard-hitting analysis of both nations' economies, politics, and policies, Stephen Roach argues that much of the rhetoric on both sides is dangerously misguided, amplified by information distortion, and more a reflection of each nation's fears and vulnerabilities than a credible assessment of the risks they face. Outlining the disastrous toll of conflict escalation between China and America, Roach offers a new road map to restoring a mutually advantageous relationship.

Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 06/06/2023
Pages: 448
Weight: 1.23lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.10w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9780300273991

About the Author
Stephen Roach is a senior fellow at the Paul Tsai China Center of Yale Law School and the former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia. He is the author of Unbalanced: The Codependency of America and China. He lives in New Canaan, CT.