Eclipsing the West: China, India and the Forging of a New World
By (Author) Vince Cable
Manchester University Press
Manchester University Press
2nd January 2026
United Kingdom
Tertiary Education
Non Fiction
Comparative politics
Hardback
352
Width 156mm, Height 234mm
As the international order begins to crumble, this incisive book asks what the rise of the Asian superstates means for the future.
The Western-dominated world we have known for the past three hundred years is coming to an end. As America withdraws from its role as enforcer of the international order, other countries are moving in to fill the void. Among them are two rising Asian 'superstates'.
Accounting for almost half of the world's population, China and India have the potential to wield enormous economic and political power. China is already vying with the US for the top spot in the global economy, and on some measures has surpassed it. By the middle of the century India may be number two. How will these countries navigate their growing roles on the world stage What are the implications for commerce, international law and the fight against climate change
Vince Cable has followed China and India for decades, first as a professional economist and later as a senior government minister. In Eclipsing the West he draws on the latest data and a lifetime of political and economic experience to offer a compelling account of what the rise of the Asian superstates means for the future.
A succinct, authoritative and up-to-date account of one of the most important but neglected relations in contemporary geopolitics. Vince Cable uses his extensive career as a scholar, economist and politician to set out what links, and separates, these two massive neighbours, and how their ambitions, and tensions, are likely to influence the coming century.
Kerry Brown, author of The Great Reversal: Britain, China and the 400 Contest for Power
Vince Cable is a Visiting Professor at London School of Economics and Political Science and Nottingham University and a Distinguished Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute. He was previously UK Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills and President of the Board of Trade. He has a PhD in economics from the University of Glasgow and in the 1990s worked as Chief Economist for Shell. His books include After the Storm (2015), Money and Power (2021) and The Chinese Conundrum (2022).