It is impossible to think about international relations today without contemplating what the rise of China means to patterns of World Politics. Josh's book details one clear pathway through which China is exercising its influence -- the deployment of its economic power and soft power to win friends and influence people. The contrast with U.S. foreign policy in recent years could not be starker, and Kurlantzick deserves credit for writing an accessible and challenging book that takes on this topic.

A theme Josh makes in the first part of his book is that U.S. policymakers have been behind the curve in realizing the potency of China's new charm offensive. However, current events make me wonder if Kurlantzick is also behind the curve a little. Beijing is already beginning to suffer some blowback from its diplomatic offensive. The interesting question is where things go from here.

For one example of blowback, see this Christian Science Monitor story by Danna Harman on how the Sudeanese are reacting to Chinese foreign direct investment. A few samples:

Locals blame their lot on oppression by Sudan's Islamist government and the long war with the north. But they also blame the Chinese.

"[The Chinese] moved us away so we would not see what was going on. They were stealing our oil and they knew it," says Abraham Thonchol, a rebel-turned-pastor who grew up near Paloich. "Oil is valuable and we are not idiots. We were expecting something."....

"The Chinese simply do not care about us," says Martin Buywomo, Paloich's mayor. "They have no contact. They never even came to my tent to pay respects. They think we are lesser people." A member of the Shilluk tribe who attended British mission schools, Mr. Buywomo puts down the worn copy of George Eliot's 19th-century classic "Silas Marner" he is reading and continues sadly. "We see them in their trucks but they overlook us. If they saw us dying on the road, they would overlook us."

Buywomo rearranges the Chinese-made plastic pink flowers on his desk. "This is colonialism all over again."

Thabo Mbeki, for one, might not rush to correct such an impression. Last December, the South African president – whose country is Beijing's largest trading partner on the continent – cautioned against an unequal and "colonial relationship" with China.

Across the border, in neighboring Zimbabwe – a country that can ill afford to offend the few friends it has – Trevor Ncube, a respected newspaper publisher, devoted a recent issue of his Zimbabwe Standard to whether doing business with China was "merely swapping our old colonial master for a new one."

Perhaps most worrying for the Chinese is the grass-roots reaction to their advances in the southern African nation of Zambia.

China, the world's largest copper consumer, has pledged $800 million in investments in Zambia, one of the world's largest copper producers. Beijing has written off nearly $8 million of Zambia's debt and announced the establishment of a showcase free-trade zone which, according to China's ambassador to Zambia, will create tens of thousands of jobs.

Nonetheless, in the lead-up to Zambia's Sept. 28 elections, presidential candidate Michael Sata turned lack of safety at Chinese owned mines (50 Zambian mine workers were killed by an explosion in 2005) into a major campaign issue. Mr. Sata fumed about what he called the plunder of the country's mineral wealth and disregard for the environment – and promised to kick out the Chinese and recognize Taiwan if he won. He did not. But a few months later, Chinese President Hu Jintao cancelled a visit to the Zambian copper-mining town of Chambishi due to fear of mass demonstrations against him there.

This story suggests that although China's economic power is formidable, it does not necessarily translate into soft power. Other countries welccome Chinese investment and Chinese orders. Their populations, however, have not warmed to the Chinese all that much. Indeed, if anything, the reverse has been the case.

To be fair, the main focus of Charm Offensive is Southeast Asia, not Africa. The interesting question is whether what's happening in Africa right now is a harbinger of future blowback, or a misstep that Beijing will quickly correct.

I don't have a clear answer to this question, and I look forward to seeing if Josh has a cogent response. However, from an international relations perspective, one wonders if China's peaceful rise to date has less to do with their soft power and more to do with the rest of the world looking for someone to challenge U.S. hegemony. China certainly fits this bill. As governments and populations become aware of how China engages the world, however, it is quite possible that familiarity will breed contempt.