Many believe that China’s ‘profound transformation” is a result of President Xi Jinping’s seemingly endless personal obsession with political control. The overlooked answer, however, is that this is indeed the culmination of decades of thinking and planning by a very powerful man—but that man is not Xi. Read More Here
To respond to Beijing’s ideological challenge, advocates of democracy must have a better understanding of what China aims to achieve by exporting its political model and how its actions are weakening democracy globally. Read More Here
China’s domestic situation must be watched very closely in the year to come, before Xi is elevated to Mao status by the next Party congress. We should not discount the rationality of many of the new rules being introduced. Read More Here
Reminiscent of their previous harsh rule in the 1990s, the Taliban have already begun to wipe out some of Afghanistan’s gains of 20 years. They’ve denied women a seat at the Cabinet, beaten journalists into silence and enforced their severe interpretation of Islam, on occasion violently. Read More Here
On July 1, China’s Communist Party will celebrate its 100th birthday. It has always called itself “great, glorious and correct”. And as it starts its second century, the party has good cause to brag. Read More Here
The party is pressing a program to Sinicize Tibetan life through programs to separate Tibetans from their language, culture, and especially, their devotion to the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s traditional spiritual leader who has lived in exile since 1959. Read More Here
Americans should be paying close attention to the politics of India. The U.S. is not Iceland; it’s huge, diverse, and tough to govern. Only one other country with comparable size and complexity has given democracy a sustained, multigenerational shot. If the system fails in India, it can certainly fail closer to home. Read More Here
Xi Jinping is in a race against time. The glow of China’s early economic rebound and containment of COVID-19 is fading. The international media have moved on to celebrate vaccine efficacy and vaccination rates elsewhere, and other economies have started posting solid growth rates. Read Here | Foreign Affairs
To the extent that crude demographic trends matter in world affairs, they have been running to the United States’ advantage for some time. But big changes are underway. The initial returns from the U.S. 2020 census and the reports about last year’s birth totals offered sobering news. Read Here | Foreign Affairs
Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the Communist Party has closely overseen every aspect of life in the country. There were signs of change in the 1980s when Deng Xiaoping started rebuilding after the Cultural Revolution but liberal moves have since been reversed. Read Here | South China Morning Post
