Launched last April, The Tao of War: The Eternal Strategies of Chinese Power (Ariel) starts from a premise that is both simple and accurate: understanding that China does not compete with the West on the same terms, but rather systematically applies a strategic doctrine that is over two thousand years old. The book also inaugurates a new collection from Pedro Baños dedicated to revisiting the great classics of universal thought through a strategic and humanistic lens. It’s worth noting that the former Army Colonel in reserve does not simply comment on The Art of War by Sun Tzu this time; he builds upon it a comprehensive reading of how Beijing has turned that treatise into the unwritten manual of its foreign policy.
The volume, in fact, has an added value that is uncommon in this type of publication: it includes a new translation of The Art of War by sinologist Gabriel García-Noblejas, along with an unpublished Taoist text in Spanish, The Three Arts of War of the Duke of Jade, which addresses strategy as a balance between ethics and power, between ruler and people. Baños structures his analysis following the thirteen classic chapters of Sun Tzu—from general observations to the use of spies, covering training, topography, or offensive fire warfare—and shows how each of those principles translates today into concrete decisions made by Beijing.
One of the strengths of the book is precisely its ability to substantiate what might otherwise seem like an abstract thesis with hard data. Baños notes, for example, that China already concentrates nearly all of the world’s solar panel production, a majority part of the batteries powering the global energy transition, more than half of the components used in wind turbines, and over half of the crude steel manufactured globally. These figures illustrate a central idea of the work: Chinese manufacturing has shifted from representing a marginal fraction of the global GDP in 2000 to controlling a substantial part of it today, a turnaround that positions Beijing as the true factory of the world, even surpassing the combined sum of several major industrial economies.
The author also refers to the concept of «civilizational state,» coined by British journalist Martin Jacques, to explain why China cannot be analyzed using the categories of the Western nation-state: a cultural continuity spanning thousands of years, exceptional ethnic and demographic cohesion, and a relationship between the state and society that would be difficult to fit within a Western context. From there, Baños reviews how Confucianism—far from being an ordinary religion—functions as the social cement that underpins the Communist Party’s project of power, with a symbolic horizon set for 2049, when the centenary of the People’s Republic will be celebrated.
The book does not shy away from the hottest issues on the board: the dispute over the South China Sea, the shadow of a hypothetical reunification with Taiwan—which Beijing considers an existential and non-negotiable matter—or the reference to the influential 1999 essay by Colonels Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui on «unrestricted warfare,» which anticipated much of the hybrid war that China is currently waging in commercial, financial, technological, and informational arenas. Baños insists that Beijing has learned to project power—through the Belt and Road Initiative, the search for resources in Africa and Latin America, and the modernization of its armed forces—while constantly seeking not to give Washington a pretext for open military confrontation. As the author himself summarizes, China’s ultimate goal is to defeat its rivals «without needing to fire a single shot,» a synthesis that encapsulates the spirit of the entire book and connects directly with the most famous precept of Sun Tzu: the perfect victory is one that is achieved without combat.
The context in which the work appears makes it especially timely. In a recent interview, Baños has been unequivocal about the principal analytical error committed by the West: we continue to view the world from a Western perspective, convinced that our model is superior, which prevents us from understanding other ways of thinking and the new geopolitical dynamics that already shape the global course. Concerning Xi Jinping’s recent prominence on the international stage, the author asserts that while the image of the United States wears thin due to the conflicts it is embroiled in, Beijing strengthens its influence without resorting to war, relying on economic and strategic development.
As is typical in Baños’s work, the style combines accessibility and rigor: a text designed for a broad audience, but backed by his career as an intelligence analyst and his hands-on experience, including international missions in the Balkans. The Tao of War is not an alarmist book, but rather a wake-up call: if the West wants to compete with China on equal terms, it first needs to understand the rules of a game that Beijing has been playing for decades with a patience that is rarely cultivated in Europe and the United States.
About the Author
Pedro Baños is a Colonel in the Army (in reserve), a staff officer graduate, and holds a master’s degree in Defense and Security from the Complutense University of Madrid. He has served as Chief of Counterintelligence and Security for the European Army Corps in Strasbourg and has participated in international missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNPROFOR, SFOR, and EUFOR). Trained in a dozen countries—including Turkey, Israel, and China—he is one of the leading analysts on geopolitics and security in Spain and Latin America. He is the author of several bestsellers also published by Ariel, including This is How the World is Dominated, Global Domination, Mental Domination, and The Global Crossroads.
