The apparent Cold War victory of liberal democracy led conservatives to proclaim “the end of history.” China’s global rise and state-led cooperation with Cuba, Mexico, and other countries compel a more cautious assessment. Cuba’s reforms may pave the way for U.S. suppliers to serve the island’s agricultural cooperatives, emerging small businesses, and underequipped state enterprises, but Chinese competitors have the advantage of intergovernmental trade credits and supply contracts. Similarly, Mexico’s recent reforms are attracting the attention of Chinese government enterprises in the energy, manufacturing, and service sectors. In both countries, Chinese diasporas are reconnecting with mainland China, generating internal pressure for official engagement with the People’s Republic of China. To conceptualize these overlapping transnational phenomena requires unifying themes that cut across international relations, economics, and sociology. The book concludes that trust is one such theme because it illuminates how China’s rise is generating new modes of interaction among people, networks, and nations.