Reviewed by Carol Thompson for Readers' Favorite

Edouard Prisse’s Sleeping With the Enemy is a political and economic commentary that examines China’s rise as a global power and argues that Western trade policies helped create the current imbalance between democratic nations and the Chinese government. The book centers on the belief that the decision to expand free trade with China in the early 2000s fundamentally reshaped the world economy and strengthened Beijing economically, politically, and militarily. Prisse repeatedly points to former President Bill Clinton’s support for China’s entry into the World Trade Organization as the key turning point that accelerated China’s growth and weakened Western manufacturing industries. Prisse combines economics, trade statistics, political analysis, historical examples, and geopolitical commentary to explain how China accumulated enormous financial reserves while expanding its global influence. The narrative also examines figures such as Donald Trump, Robert Lighthizer, Peter Navarro, Xi Jinping, and European leaders, discussing how different governments responded to trade imbalances and tariffs.

Edouard Prisse writes in a direct, logical style that emphasizes urgency and conviction. The prose often reads like a combination of a political essay, an economic lecture, and a geopolitical warning, with Prisse frequently addressing readers in a conversational manner while presenting statistics, historical examples, and rhetorical questions. The pacing is idea-driven, moving steadily through trade policy, global finance, industrial production, and international relations. Charts, graphs, and numerical comparisons are used throughout the book to reinforce the author’s central arguments, particularly in discussions involving labor costs, foreign exchange reserves, and trade imbalances. Prisse also uses repetition, analogy, and sharp contrasts between democratic systems and authoritarian governments to strengthen his perspective. Readers interested in economics, international trade, geopolitics, manufacturing policy, and modern relations between China and the West will likely find much to consider in Sleeping With the Enemy.