2009年12月，《纽约时报》特约书评撰稿人约瑟夫·卡恩和谷美智子分别在这一享誉世界的报纸中针对《当中国统治世界》发表了题为“巨龙的觉醒”和“中国对世界的影响将超过中国？”两篇文章。《纽约时报》是一家全球发行的报纸，在整个世界有着巨大的影响力，其严谨程度在业界具有极高的知名度。就一本书而言，想要在《纽约时报》上发表一篇与之相关的书评，比登天还难，那就更不用说在一个月内连续出现两篇这样的书评了。更让人称奇的是，这两位撰稿人对《当中国统治世界》一书的评价分歧之大，实为罕见。
Asia
这是一部震惊了西方世界的书：书稿还在创作阶段就已经引起了西方媒体的一片沸腾，它们都在关心——究竟中国能不能统治世界?中国统治世界的力量是什么?这更是一部震惊了中国的书：在英文版出版后，作者马丁·雅克在中国的旋风之旅已然在各大媒体呈现遍地开花之势，赞美、反思甚至大加挞伐之声不绝于耳，而更多的读者则关心——这部书的中文简体版到底什么时候出版?
据日本《日本时报》报道，《当中国统治世界》是日本今日来赠送朋友的必备礼品，疾呼：“有必要透彻了解世界新秩序令人惊讶的状况。这是件紧要和关乎责任的事。”
A stimulating yet ultimately flawed portrait of a China-dominated world
Martin Jacques, academic and former editor of Marxism Today, is a big fan of the Chinese development model. In his new book, When China Rules the World: The Rise of the Middle Kingdom and the End of the Western World, Jacques makes the provocative argument that China is not only set to rise in stature within the current system, but in fact will overturn the system and reconfigure it according to essential Chinese principles.
The thesis is stimulating and the book well-written, but it falls short of convincing to those who do not already share the statist premise.
英国资深媒体人，专栏作家马丁·杰克斯（Martin Jacques）2009年出版的《中国统治世界之时：中央王国的崛起和西方世界的终结》（When China Rules the World: The Rise of the Middle Kingdom and the End of the Western World）激起很大反响。
书的标题回答了许多人从来不认为是个问题的问题：西方（先是欧洲，然后是美国）占据了很久的世界主导地位是否终于行将结束，人类进入中国主导世界的时代？杰克斯看来答案很清楚。
经济实力是政治、军事和文化实力的基础，而根据投资银行高盛的预计，再过十多年中国就将取代美国成为世界头号经济强国，到2050年中国经济的规模将扩大到美国的两倍。
杰克斯认为，假以时日，中国不会变得更西方化；世界将变得更中国化。中国作为一个“文明-国家”（civilisation state），它主宰下的世界会是什么样呢？到目前为止没有多少人真正思考过。世界并没有对此作好准备。
Attention last-minute holiday shoppers! We have an easy-to-purchase gift to recommend. And we guarantee that it will fit all sizes, shapes and tastes.
This is assuming your intended recipients are intelligent, literate and eager to learn about the world. For as your intellectually slothful friends (if any), we recommend you just keep off your list entirely. Why waste your (presumably) hard-earned money on them? Let them spend their holiday watching football or something.
The answer to your gift-list problem is to buy your friends a book on China—in fact, any book on China, or any two or even three books. You absolutely cannot go wrong. In the last year not one book on China has been published in the US that’s not worth buying and reading. This is a serious statement.
Attention last-minute holiday shoppers! We have an easy-to-purchase gift to recommend. And we guarantee that it will fit all sizes, shapes and tastes.
This is assuming your intended recipients are intelligent, literate and eager to learn about the world. For as your intellectually slothful friends (if any), we recommend you just keep off your list entirely. Why waste your (presumably) hard-earned money on them? Let them spend their holiday watching football or something.
With its provocative title, this well-written and timely book by the well-known British journalist Martin Jacques is something of a publisher’s dream. A cut above the annual crop of run-of-the-mill “China threat” books, Jacques’ thoughtful analysis is selling well and deservedly so. It combines an excellent introduction to Chinese history and culture with an exposition of the main arguments surrounding the 21st century “rise of China”, albeit heavily weighted in favor of the author’s own views. It even throws in an excellent chapter on Japan that, taken on its own, would be a good enough reason for buying the book.
But what of the massive assumption contained in the book’s title? Does Jacques manage to make his case that China is set to rule the world? Talk of the emergence of a G2 of America and China in the wake of the crash of 2008 appears, if not to confirm, then at least prefigure China’s rise to preeminence. None of the great issues facing the world can be solved without reference to and without the agreement of the “big two.” All eyes are on the U.S. and China as the world gathers in Copenhagen to address the existential threat of global warming. But counting as one of the world’s biggest problems does not translate to occupancy of the top seat, and would in any case be an unhappy way to ascend the throne.
Books about China’s ascendancy to a leading world power are often prefaced by the word “if,” but author Martin Jacques has defied the formula by giving his book the eye-catching title, When China Rules the World: The Rise of the Middle Kingdom and the End of the Western World. The British writer, broadcaster and former visiting professor at Renmin University of China, is currently promoting his thought-provoking and somewhat controversial work.
Published by Penguin in June, Jacques’ latest book is a comprehensive and richly detailed analysis of China’s ascendancy and influence he believes it will have on East Asia and the rest of the world – including the West.
It should not take a political economist to see how the scores of books being published on China’s “rise” vary in quality and outlook, reflecting as much the standpoint of their respective authors as the subject itself.
Doomsayers insist modern China will break down or collapse, Cold Warriors persistently condemn Beijing for whatever it does, alarmists panic at the thought of “communist” China succeeding at anything, pragmatists take a balanced view of the big picture, and incurable optimists see only the positive side.