The basic goal of this book is to examine the historical framing of the ‘China Model’ discourse compared with perceptions of the broader East Asian and Western trajectories. It proceeds from two angles. First, we seek to problematise the historical basis of what many in the advanced “First World“, particularly in America, used to see as their superior model of governance. Second, we posit that the China Model as a possible alternative to Western neoliberalism is similarly problematic upon re-examining that model's historical record. In the final analysis, the current enthusiasm in some quarters of the international media about the China Model may have nothing to do with China per se but more to do with the decline of self-celebrated models that are in and of themselves ideal-typical abstractions rather than historically grounded entities. Similarly, triumphant portrayals of Chinese exceptionalism by China-based scholars have been predicated on a troubled Mao-era legacy, the implications of which remain unclear for understanding the increasingly fragmented and globally involved Chinese political economy today.