"A special feature of Chinese civilization is that it seems to have no beginning. It appears in history less as a conventional nation-state than a permanent natural phenomenon." (Chap. 1, p. 20)

"Through many millennia of Chinese civilization, China was never obliged to deal with other countries or civilizations that were comparable to it in scale and sophistication." (Chap. 2, p. 24)

"China knew, of course, of different societies around its periphery in Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma; but in the Chinese perception, China was considered the center of the world, the "Middle Kingdom," and other societies were assessed as gradations from it." (Chap. 2, p. 27)

"Revolutionaries are, by their nature, powerful and single-minded personalities." (Chap. 4, p. 111)

"Mao was too much of a realist, however, to pursue world revolution as a practical goal. As a result, the tangible impact of China on world revolution was largely ideological and consisted of intelligence support for local...