When Ezra Vogel’s Japan as Number One hit bookshelves in 1980, Japan was viewed by some as an economic threat, and was strategically derided for ‘free riding’ on the United States’ security order. Dealing with China today, these concerns seem quaint. China’s GDP reached a third of US levels in 1998, and now exceeds it in PPP terms. Strategists are probably nostalgic for a rising power that chooses to free ride on an existing order rather than change it. China’s economic footprint alone means that, ready or not, all countries in the world have to manage its impact.