A Force So Swift and The Australian Open
A Force So Swift: Mao, Truman, and the Birth of Modern China, 1949 By: Kevin Peraino
Published: September 2017 Date Finished: January 15, 2024
Rating: 7/10
During World War II, the Nationalist in China led by Chaing Kai-shek had been decimated by the Japanese while the Communists, led by Mao Zedong largely bided their time on the periphery of the conflict. Despite massive amounts of aid from the US to the Nationalists, the Communists had the better of the fighting in the subsequent Chinese Civil War. Vast quantities of the aid the Americans sent to Chaing fell into the hands of the Communist forces and this would be a bone of contention later when the American foreign policy establishment.
By 1949, the Chinese Civil War was on its last leg as an active conflict. Mao and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) were overtaking Nanjing and forcing Chaing and the Nationalists into crisis mode. The various factions opposed to the Communists in China weren’t the only ones facing a crisis over the PLA’s conquest. President Harry Truman, Secretary of State Dean Acheson, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson and many more important players in Washington were also closely following the events in the Middle Kingdom and reacting to them.
A Force So Swift tells the story of how the main players (including Truman, Mao, Stalin, Madame Chaing, Acheson, Johnson, Congressman Walter Judd and others) shaped and responded to the events of 1949 and laid the foundations for Sino-American relations that persist to this day.
Peraino, more or less, separates the US players into the hawks and the doves. The hawks, led by Judd and Johnson, are greatly influenced by Madame Chaing and want to continue supporting Chaing Kai-shek and anyone who will continue to resist the Communists. They want to refuse diplomatic recognition to Mao and hold out hope that the Chinese people will find a way to resist the PLA and form a government friendly to the US.
The doves, most notably Acheson who eventually sways Truman to his side, are more pragmatic. They see no advantage to continuing to support the Nationalists. Acheson mounts a campaign to discredit Chaing. They want to reach out to Mao and possibly recognize the government and reach deals more amenable to western nations. They hope that by taking a wait and see approach the Soviets and Chinese will have a falling out and pushing the Chinese back towards the West.
The book overall feels lacking to me for being to US centric. I was hoping for more information on what Mao and Chaing were doing during this time but it almost exclusively focuses on players in the United States. It details how eventually the US settled on a strategy of containment in Asia. The US would commit great resources to surround the mainland of China with nations friendly to the US and remain a power in the region with all that would mean for the second half of the 20th century.
It's an interesting book that could have been even better, in my opinion, if it expanded its scope and included more points of view.
Carlos Alcaraz to win Australian Open (bet 0.5 units) +330 at Draftkings
YTD 3-1-0 and +1.95 units
As per usual, Novak Djokovic is the favorite to win this tournament. Joker is a brilliant tennis player, but I just don’t like him. The main reason I don’t like him is because my tennis fandom allegiance is firmly committed to Roger Federer. Roger is, pound-for-pound, my favorite athlete of all time, regardless of sport. Federer won 20 of the “Grand Slam” tournaments (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open) during his illustrious career, but Joker sits at 24 and counting, including 10 titles in Melbourne. Every title Joker wins seems to denigrate more and more the brilliant career Federer had and it becomes tougher to argue that Federer was the tennis “GOAT” (Greatest of All Time).
With all due respect to Joker, Rafa Nadal, Serena Williams, and the rest that have a claim to being the best tennis player ever, no one will ever compare to Roger for me. Joker and Serena can go on to play for another 5 years and win 30 total Grand Slams, but I saw it with my own eyes, peak Roger Federer was the real thing. No one ever did it better or with more elegance and class. I respect the way Joker plays because when I played tennis, I was a scrappy returner (not to say that’s all Joker is), but I’m in awe of the way Federer gracefully floated around the court. His footwork and shot making often blurred the line between art and sport.
Since, in my view, a win for Joker is a loss for Federer’s legacy, I’m maybe betting with my heart more than my head in picking against the favorite in this tournament. Fortunately for me, Joker has a worthy rival on the other side of the bracket that could face him in a thrilling final in the young Spainard Carlos Alcaraz.
Alcaraz is only 20 years old but has taken the tennis world by storm the past few years. He won his first Grand Slam at the US Open in 2022 and then took down Joker last season in a dramatic five set classic at Wimbledon. He’s proven he can play and win on any surface against anyone.
Last season he wore down towards the end of tournaments and the end of the year. To begin the 2024 season, he didn’t play in any of the warmup tournaments and should be fresh for his first tournament of the year. He’s never made it past the third round in Australia, but he’s only 20 and missed last season’s tournament with an injury.
It’s a tall order trying to knock off arguably the best player a sport has ever seen (second best for my money) but if anyone can do it, it’s the powerful young man from Spain. With Joker finally starting to show some signs of aging, Alcaraz is poised to be at the apex of the sport for the foreseeable future and may one day be in the conversation of all-time best players as well.