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The author enjoyed the exorbitant privilege of serving three times as Ambassador of Spain to China over a period of 25 years,between 1987 and 2013. He wondered about the US decisive role in empowering China,This book is the result of his review.
The book starts with an in-depth analysis of China´s exponential economic development since 1978, adding a reflection on economic power as the crucial underpinning of military and geopolitical might.
It underlines that when Nixon first visited China, in February 1972, he and Kissinger already understood that China would become a great power in a few decades and the ensuing risk "to be confronted, if our relations turn sour, with the most formidable enemy that has ever existed". The anticipated risk was taken to achieve short term benefits. Assessing the wisdom of this decision is the thrust of the book. Eight reasons are listed which might have given Nixon and Kissinger second thoughts when they decided to engage China.
The contributions of the different US Presidents to the engagement and later containment of China are analyzed. A chapter is devoted to "Unfulfilled prophecies": China and democracy, and the elusive collapse of the Chinese economy.
A European epilogue deals with the triangular relationship Europe - US - China. Will Europe be able to reach political union, engineering a renaissance from the ashes of 1945 and becoming again a great power? It is the existential question: to be or not to be.
"The book also features a foreword by Javier Solana, former Secretary General of NATO and High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union."
List of contents
Chapter 1. Preface.- Chapter 2. Napoleon´s prophecy.- Chapter 3. China´s economic development and its geostrategic impact.- Chapter 4. Nixon´s opening to China.- Chapter 5. Engaging China.- Chapter 6. Containing China.- Chapter 7. Assessing four decades of US policy with China.- Chapter 8. The dysfunctions of the American political system.- Chapter 9. Unfulfilled promises.- Chapter 10. Conclusion.- Chapter 11. Epilogue. A European perspective. The sovereignty trap.
About the author
Eugenio Bregolat
is a retired Spanish diplomat. He served as head of the International Department in the staff of the two first Spanish Prime Ministers after the restoration of democracy, Adolfo Suárez and Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo. He spent twelve years in China, where he was three times Ambassador, and ten in Russia, where he also was Ambassador. He was Political Director in the Spanish Foreign Ministry, in charge of the European Foreign and Security Policy.
He wrote "The second Chinese revolution", published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2015.
Summary
The author enjoyed the exorbitant privilege of serving three times as Ambassador of Spain to China over a period of 25 years,between 1987 and 2013. He wondered about the US decisive role in empowering China,This book is the result of his review.
The book starts with an in-depth analysis of China´s exponential economic development since 1978, adding a reflection on economic power as the crucial underpinning of military and geopolitical might.
It underlines that when Nixon first visited China, in February 1972, he and Kissinger already understood that China would become a great power in a few decades and the ensuing risk "to be confronted, if our relations turn sour, with the most formidable enemy that has ever existed". The anticipated risk was taken to achieve short term benefits. Assessing the wisdom of this decision is the thrust of the book. Eight reasons are listed which might have given Nixon and Kissinger second thoughts when they decided to engage China.
The contributions of the different US Presidents to the engagement and later containment of China are analyzed. A chapter is devoted to "Unfulfilled prophecies": China and democracy, and the elusive collapse of the Chinese economy.
A European epilogue deals with the triangular relationship Europe - US - China. Will Europe be able to reach political union, engineering a renaissance from the ashes of 1945 and becoming again a great power? It is the existential question: to be or not to be.
“The book also features a foreword by Javier Solana, former Secretary General of NATO and High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union.”
Report
Empowering China is far more than a study of contemporary international relations; it is a meditation on power, perception, and the human factors behind global politics. Written with the clarity of a diplomat and the depth of a scholar, Bregolat's work bridges the worlds of policy analysis and intellectual reflection. It speaks to readers who wish to understand not only China 's reemergence but also the choices sometimes deliberate, sometimes inadvertent that have shaped the world we inhabit today. (David Gosset, China-Europe-America Global Initiative, ceaglobalinitiative.com, November 3, 2025)
