Explains how China's ascendance as an economic superpower will alter the cultural, political, social, and ethnic balance of global power in the twenty-first century, unseating the West and in the process creating a whole new world.

The changing of the guard : the end of the western world --The rise of the West -- Japan : modern but hardly western -- China's ignominy -- Contested modernity : the age of China -- China as an economic superpower -- A civilization-state -- The Middle Kingdom mentality -- China's own backyard -- China : a rising global power -- When China rules the world -- Concluding remarks : the eight differences that define China.