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