America Second

A timely, provocative expose of the US's political and business leadership's deep ties to China—a network of people who believe they are doing the right thing—at a profound and often hidden cost to American and Western interests.

The past few years have seen a shift in the relations between China and the United States, from enthusiastic economic partners, to wary frenemies, to open rivals. Americans have been slow to wake up to the challenges posed by the Chinese Communist Party. Why did this happen? And what can be done about it?

In America Second, Isaac Stone Fish traces the evolution of the Chinese Communist Party's influence in America. He shows how America's leaders initially welcomed China's entry into the US economy, believing that trade and engagement would lead to a more democratic China. And he explains how—despite the fact that this belief has proved misguided—many of the country's businesspeople and politicians have become too dependent on China to challenge them.

America Second exposes a deep web of Chinese influence in America, built quietly over the years through prominent figures such as former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright, Disney chairman Bob Iger, and members of the Bush political dynasty. And it shows how to fight that influence—without being paranoid, xenophobic, or racist. This is an authoritative and important story, not only of corruption but of misplaced intentions, with serious implications for the future of the United States, as well as for the world at large.

Isaac Stone Fish's candour and self-reflection drives his cautionary tale about the perils of self-censorship, rationalisation, and accommodation. He has built a powerful case against sacrificing the truth in pursuit of success in China.
—Evan Osnos, author of Age of Ambition

This fascinating book concludes that the best lobbyists for the Chinese Communist Party in the US have not been its propagandists, or even PR agents hired to do its bidding, but self-justifying American businessmen drawn to China by the promise of its vast markets. What's most troubling is that, given the thoroughness of Stone Fish's research, it's not easy to argue with his conclusion.
—Orville Schell, director of the Center on US-China Relations at the Asia Society

Here is what the movers, shakers, and China "experts" (and Henry Kissinger) would rather you not know about their backs and forths with the Communist Party of China over the past fifty years. America second? Quite. And what is first? Principle, truth, and empathy or hypocrisy, manoeuvre, and greed? No book shows the answer more clearly.
—Perry Link, Professor Emeritus of East Asian Studies, Princeton University