China is now the global counting house, trading Western debt and cashing Western obligations - financially, socially and diplomatically. By 'buying' its own democratic electorate with easy credit, the West has ceded power to the Chinese. China's primary goal, however, is internal stability and external security, aiming neither for international dominance nor military confrontation. Its governing Party has a national mandate - of, by and for the people - a main street mandate for a resurgent China. Mackinnon and Powell show how China is determining its destiny. This book interprets China's policy of gradual global expansion and the alternatives it offers to open capitalism and liberal democracy. It sifts constants from variables to reveal a China positioning itself for recognition as an equal.