Nepal, Sept. 20 -- The modern mind, besieged by chaotic world events, seeks refuge in a simple idea. A single, powerful lens that makes the contest between America and China coherent offers intellectual comfort, a feeling of control. Dan Wang's Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future (Penguin, 2025) provides that lens.

His central thesis-the global struggle as a contest between China's "engineering state" and America's "lawyerly society"-is compelling and provocative, a testament to his skill as a writer and observer. The book must be read, for it clearly articulates how systems decay and thrive in our age. But it must also be read with deep scepticism, for its elegance is an evasion of the harsher realities of politics, class, a...