In the past 30 years, China has transformed from an impoverished country where peasants comprised the largest portion of the populace to an economic power with an expanding middle class and more megacities than anywhere else on Earth. This remarkable transformation has required, and will continue to demand, massive quantities of resources. Like every other major power in modern history, China is looking outward to find them.

Join Elizabeth Economy as she delivers a sweeping account of where China's pursuit of raw materials may take the country in the coming years and what the consequences will be, not just for China, but for the whole world.

Economy is the C.V. Starr senior fellow and director for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.