Exhaustively researched ... an excellent contribution to understanding American and Chinese foreign policy in Southeast Asia.

Bangkok Post

An important contribution to the field of Thailand's foreign relations.

Contemporary Southeast Asia

The US has failed to reliably present democracy and human rights as alternatives to the China Model. It has allowed its 'interests' to override its 'values,' and hence is vulnerable to accusations of hypocrisy. Zawacki argues that the US must correct for these two failures and make the kind of commitment to Asia that Obama promised but never delivered.

New York Review of Books

Zawacki skillfully tells the story of America's oldest Asian ally, exploring how equivocation in Washington and dysfunction in Bangkok is allowing a resurgent China to extend its talons into a disturbingly authoritarian Thailand.

Charlie Campbell, Beijing correspondent for TIME

Presents a powerful counter-argument to the conventional wisdom that China's economic rise alone explains Thailand's pivot from the US to China. In thoroughly researched detail, the book traces a sorry trail of US condescension and clumsy diplomacy.

Daniel Fineman, author of A Special Relationship: The United States and Military Government in Thailand

Zawacki deftly unpacks Thailand's complex and evolving relationships with the United States and China, and issues a wake-up call to U.S. policymakers.

Elizabeth Economy, Director of Asia Studies, Council on Foreign Relations