DiscoverForeign Policy LiveIf Americans Are Lawyers and Chinese Are Engineers, Who Is Going to Win?
If Americans Are Lawyers and Chinese Are Engineers, Who Is Going to Win?

If Americans Are Lawyers and Chinese Are Engineers, Who Is Going to Win?

Update: 2025-08-25
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The United States and China are constantly looking for a leg up in their rivalry for geopolitical primacy. But what if the real advantage lies in adopting a bit of the other’s culture? A new book makes the case that while China has become an engineering state obsessed with building, the United States has become a lawyerly society focused on procedures and blocking. Can they learn from each other? Author and scholar Dan Wang sits down with Ravi Agrawal to discuss his new book, Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future.


Dan Wang: Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future


Ravi Agrawal: Why China’s Tech Dominance Is Not Inevitable


Bob Davis: America’s Flailing Industrial Policy Can Take Lessons From China


James Palmer: A Guide to Censorship in China


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If Americans Are Lawyers and Chinese Are Engineers, Who Is Going to Win?

If Americans Are Lawyers and Chinese Are Engineers, Who Is Going to Win?

Foreign Policy