"This book contains valuable essays that stretch our imagination. Football, soccer, baseball, chess, weiqi and other games provide interesting metaphors that help us understand the various dimensions of the cooperative rivalry between the US and China. It is a fascinating read."

--Joseph S. Nye is University Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at Harvard University, USA and author of Do Morals Matter? Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump

"A thoughtful account of how sports shape strategic culture in the U.S. and China-and how sports competitions, in turn, can provide clues for managing the U.S.-China rivalry."

--Graham Allison, Douglas Dillon Professor of Government at Harvard University, USA

"A thought-provoking and fascinating exploration of American and Chinese strategic approaches."

--Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, USA

"This work offers exceptionally useful insights into the cultural underpinnings of China's value system and, thus, its motivations. Dr. Lai, one of America's most informed experts on the Peoples' Republic of China, is uniquely positioned to understand and explain how PRC leaders think."

--Douglas C. Lovelace, Jr., Esquire, USA is a widely published senior national security strategist, former Director of the U.S. Army Strategic Institute, and Editor and Coauthor of Terrorism: Commentary on Security Documents, Oxford University Press.

Most competitive sports owe their origins to human fighting. Although they are "ritualized contests," competitive sports have retained many aspects of human warfare, especially the use of strategy and tactics that moves human contest beyond military clashes to the subjugation of opponents without bloodshed.

Cultural influences usually go unnoticed. Indeed, Washington often conducts foreign affairs like football games without knowing that is the case. Likewise, Beijing moves in Weiqi style subconsciously. This book uncovers these influences.

David Lai, Ph.D. is currently an adjunct professor at the George Washington University, USA and previously professor at the U.S. Army and Air War Colleges respectively.

David Lai, Ph.D. is currently an adjunct professor at the George Washington University, USA and previously professor at the U.S. Army and Air War Colleges respectively.

This book investigates cultural influences of competitive sports on U.S. and Chinese strategic thinking and tactical behavior.

Most competitive sports owe their origins to human fighting. Although they are ritualized contests, competitive sports have retained many aspects of human warfare, especially the use of strategy and tactics that moves human contest beyond military clashes to the subjugation of opponents without bloodshed.

Cultural influences usually go unnoticed. Indeed, Washington often conducts foreign affairs like football games without knowing that is the case. Likewise, Beijing moves in Weiqi style subconsciously. This book uncovers these influences.

Chapter 1       Introduction

Part I:                        American Games

Chapter 2       It's All Games: U.S. Foreign and Security Policies

Chapter 3       American Football and War

Chapter 4       Football vs. Soccer: American Warfare in an Era of Unconventional Threats

Chapter 5       Chess and Strategy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Chapter 6       The Great Pacific Chess Match: U.S. Chess Moves on China

Chapter 7       Uncovering Hidden Patterns of Thought in War: Weiqi Versus Chess

Chapter 8       Baseball and American Strategic Culture

Chapter 9       United States vs North Korea in No-Limit Poker: Alligator Blood or Dead

Money?

Part II:                      Chinese Games

Chapter 10     Learning from the Stones: A Weiqi Approach to Mastering China's Strategic

Concept, Shi

Chapter 11     East Meets West: An Ancient Game Sheds New Light on U.S.-Asian

Strategic Relations

Chapter 12     China's Strategic Moves and Countermoves in the Asia-Pacific

About the Authors