No Limits / The Rupture

Financial Times - Best Politics Books of 2022

“The origins of the transformation in the west’s approach to China are explained in Andrew Small’s fast-paced and deeply researched book”, Gideon Rachman, Financial Times

“Small ably traces how China went from partner to rival to threat and maps out the challenges that it now poses for the West”, Kirkus Reviews

“Detailed and clear-sighted, this is a valuable report on a consequential global rivalry”, Publishers Weekly

“Small's book, No Limits: The Inside Story of China's War With the West, offers a compelling, first-person perspective on the West's awakening to the systemic challenges posed by China”, Newsweek

“Andrew Small’s book is the most important book about China written in the past decade. It describes with brilliant power and insight the end of the dream of integrating China. With revealing anecdotes, trenchant analysis and elegant prose, Small dissects the main events that have fragmented the world, and made the prospect of a global rule based order all but impossible. This is no dry academic tome but a gripping narrative of great poignancy written by someone intoxicated and fascinated by Chinese culture, history and politics. Small’s dizzying account has a polyphonic quality that draws on his experiences of living in Beijing, Washington, DC, Berlin, Brussels and London, as well as his insights into Chinese power in Africa, the Middle East, South America and Asia. It is a must read for anyone trying to make sense of the biggest story of our times.” Mark Leonard, co-founder and director of the European Council on Foreign Relations

“Over the course of the past decade the democracies have started to recognize the economic, technological, and ideological challenges posed to their prosperity and security by China. Andrew Small is uniquely well-positioned to tell the story of this still-incomplete awakening: an experienced China-watcher he is also a keen and well-connected observer of the policy-making processes in the United States and across Europe. His excellent new book is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the rapidly evolving rivalry between an authoritarian China and the liberal democratic West.” Aaron L. Friedberg, Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University, and author of Getting China Wrong

“The Rupture dissects the key events that marked Europe’s disillusionment with China. Thanks to his extensive involvement in Europe’s interaction with China, Andrew Small’s account provides a degree of immediacy and detail lacking in most books on the same subject. His probing analysis offers a sobering story of how a well-intentioned and initially promising European effort of engagement ended in bitter disappointment for both sides. The Rupture shows that underlying clashes over ideological values and visions of world order ultimately made it impossible for Europe to avert a confrontation with China. This is an invaluable and timely contribution to our understanding of the rise and fall of Europe-China partnership in the post-Cold War era.” Minxin Pei, Tom and Margot Pritzker ’72 Professor of Government, Claremont McKenna College, and author of China’s Crony Capitalism

“This is an important book that enables us to think through an important part of our future—China’s increasingly complex and contentious effect and relationship with Europe and the West. In carefully judged but incisive analysis and words, this book fills gaps in our understanding of the sources of China’s conduct and of the multiple considerations, not always consistent, that determine European actions towards China. A most useful and timely book at a time of great change, with signposts and warnings for the future.” Shivshankar Menon, India’s former National Security Adviser, Foreign Secretary and Ambassador to China

The China-Pakistan Axis: Asia’s New Geopolitics

Review roundtable in NBR's Asia Policy: essays by Dan Markey, Andrew Scobell, John Garver, Meena Singh Roy, Feroz Hassan Khan, and author response

‘an excellent book.’ — Anatol Lieven, New York Review of Books

‘An impressive account of a little-understood friendship...Six years of research have enabled Mr Small to produce a detailed account of decades of close dealings between the two countries. In that time he won the confidence of many sources in the Chinese army, military intelligence and the security services. Their officials are as tight-lipped as the Pakistanis are garrulous. Yet he managed to loosen them up’  — Economist

'This is the best account of what is probably the most special and purely strategic relationship in the world. Indeed, this is a book I would recommend to anyone interested in India’s foreign policy and future' — Shivshankar Menon, former Indian National Security Advisor, the Wire

‘the felicity of his writing and the wealth of detail summoned in the book [make] this work indispensable even for scholars who otherwise follow south Asian security issues closely ... Small brings to bear not only copious research but analytic subtlety that makes this book both a joy to read and a veritable "keeper"’ — Ashley Tellis, International Affairs

‘exceptionally well-informed and insightful’ — Andrew Nathan, Foreign Affairs

‘An authoritative study of [this] pivotal entente ... the book is a wealth of data on a previously under-researched subject ... The region's dual axes and their evolving relationships -- India and America on the one hand, and Pakistan and China on the other -- will be central to the global order in our times.’ — Bruce Riedel, Lawfare / Brookings

''Valuable and perceptive ... Small's book is a welcome addition, the more so because it is both short and highly readable' — Teresita Schaffer, Survival

‘A benchmark against which the often speculative writing on these two countries can be measured...not just an impressive scholarly effort with a trove of references but a diverting read’  — Jacob Steiner, Dawn

'Andrew Small's compelling study is far more than the best up-to-date book on an important topic...this important study is solidly built on pioneering research and path-breaking interviewing all over the region.' — Edward Friedman, China Quarterly

‘It is a work of stupendous research, rich in fresh insights. Extremely well-written.’ — A. G. Noorani, Frontline

‘A ground-breaking book... [Small] has had remarkable access to political, military and intelligence officials in both countries.’ — Nayan Chanda, Times of India

‘An insightful, soundly-argued, and well-researched analysis…the role of nonstate terrorist actors is also a major focus of Small’s excellent book’, John Garver, the China Journal

‘This fascinating book disentangles the relationship between one of the oddest couples in geopolitics: an unpredictable Islamic republic and a communist state that has turned to a mixture of consumerism and authoritarianism.’ — Rana Mitter, Prospect Magazine

'Andrew Small’s timely and brilliantly researched book provides his readership with the perfect means to keep pace with a rapidly changing China and a dyslexic Pakistan ... The China-Pakistan Axis: Asia’s New Geopolitics is akin to a Chinese ball puzzle - meticulously crafted, breathtaking in its detail, and articulated so that its seven chapters can rotate independently of each other', F.S. Aijazuddin, Political Quarterly

‘This is an excellent, succinct book, and written with great verve. It is based, as the many pages of notes and references testify, on many hundreds of hours of interviews with key people throughout the region.’ — Kerry Brown, Asian Review of Books

‘The hottest new read in Islamabad.’ — Sherry Rehman, former Pakistani Ambassador to the United States

‘This unique and timely work provides fresh insights into one of the most important and most neglected new developments in world affairs — China’s turn to south and west Asia. As the U.S. pivots toward (East) Asia, Andrew Small shows us how China is moving beyond traditional concepts of Asia.’ — Barnett Rubin, Senior Fellow and Director at the Center on International Cooperation, New York University

‘Andrew Small’s remarkable book paints a vivid picture of twenty-first century geopolitics by uncovering one of the most important and under-explored relationships. A gripping narrative of how China’s rise meets nukes, terrorists and the Taliban.’ — Mark Leonard, Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations and author of What Does China Think?

‘Andrew Small spent years not only interviewing in foreign ministry reception rooms in Beijing and Islamabad but trundling around back streets in places like Kashgar and Gilgit-Baltistan, bearded and dressed like a local, to understand the nature of one of the world's most important and least understood alliances. Promises profound insights into the two countries that (outside the Middle East) dominate American anxieties about future security challenges.’  — Daniel Twining, Foreign Policy

‘Fascinating book...Small's book is gripping because he has traveled back and forth to both countries and built up lines with spies, diplomats and soldiers to uncover a secretive and poorly understood relationship.’ New Statesman 

‘The China-Pakistan Axis explores one of the most resilient and paradoxical bilateral relations of the post colonial era — a superb illustration of the manner in which international relations can be determined by power considerations. Pakistan and China have been “all weather friends” for more than fifty years in spite of their ideological differences. Andrew Small shows that their rapprochement resulted mostly from a real politik assessment of their common enemy, India, but that non material variables are back in the picture today because of the islamist connection in the case of the Uighurs, for example. The strength of Small’s work lies in its analysis of the fascinating scope and trajectory of the Beijing–Islamabad relationship.’ — Christophe Jaffrelot, Research Director at CNRS, Sciences Po and author of The Pakistan Paradox: Instability and Resilience

‘outstanding new book… Small pulls [the history] together deftly and with meticulous sourcing. But he supplements it with extensive interviews, and these paint a richer picture of Chinese foreign policy in motion.’ — Shashank Joshi, The Interpreter

‘It should be compulsory reading for anyone too carried away by the euphoria of warming U.S.-India ties and tempted to believe China can be nudged out of the picture.’ — Myra MacDonald, War on the Rocks

‘Interspersed with interesting anecdotes, Andrew Small’s thoroughly researched book provides fresh insights and places into geopolitical context, this axis between China and Pakistan which affects India the most.’ — Sushant Singh, Indian Express

‘Small’s new book... is particularly significant as it relies on years of research and interactions with officials on both sides of the border, not to mention sound historical research.’ — Alessandro Rippa, China US Focus

'Laced with juicy anecdotes...chapters dedicated to the Chinese war on terror, the Sino-Pakistan nuclear collaboration and the grand economic projects between the two sides are the highlights of the work' — Varun Ramachandra, Business Standard