This is Fresh Air.

I'm Dave Davies and for Terry Gross, who's off this week.

In 1941, millions of Americans were shocked when Japanese forces attacked the US naval base

at Pearl Harbor.

Our guest today, Michael Beckley, begins his new book with co-author Hal Brands, by

positing the notion that the Chinese military could take advantage of a disputed election

result in the United States in 2025 to attack Taiwan, and in the process hit a US aircraft

carrier with a ballistic missile-provoking a war between China and the United States.

Beckley and Brands' book argues that China is making increasingly aggressive moves against

its neighbors in Asia and defining its future in terms of a strategic battle with the United

States for influence in a changing world.

Beckley writes that in recent years China has embarked on a military build-up unlike

any since World War II.

The book argues that China today fits the profile of a dangerous adversary, a rising power

that has reached a point where its growth seems to have peaked, and its leaders become

increasingly reckless in striking out against rivals, allowing against them.

Michael Beckley is an associate professor of political science at Tufts University who's

written widely on China.

He's a former fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School and is currently a non-resident senior

fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

His co-author, How Brands, is a professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced

International Studies and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

...