From Hu’s the Boss to Xi’s in Charge: A First Season Recap
A year after the arrival of China's new president on the world stage, it's time to ask if he's achieving his twin goals of being the new Deng Xiaoping and not the new Mikhail Gorbachev.
Jeffrey Wasserstrom
The Dictator’s Learning Curve: David and Goliath Tales for Our Times
William J. Dobson's The Dictator's Learning Curve is an invaluable look at how strongmen hold onto power, and continue to repress their people—but it's also a primer for how to chuck those dictators out.
OWS, Egypt Expose Limits of Town Square Test
Central plazas were key places for political action in 2011, but historian Jeffrey Wasserstrom says the Town Square Test fails as a method for assessing the divide between democracy and authoritarian.
When Memes Collide: Tank Man, Pepper Spray Cop
The similarities and differences surrounding two iconic images of public protest — from Tiananmen Square and UC Davis — tell their own stories of citizen-led struggles.
The Chinese Communist Party Marks Its 90th Anniversary
Mao's (red) star is on the rise, Chiang's is being refurbished and Confucius' is in a state of flux as the ever-pragmatic Chinese Communist Party marks its 90th anniversary.
Predicting How China Will React To Protests
The author of 'China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know' doffs his oracular hat when asked to predict how China will react tomorrow to a whiff of Jasmine Revolution today.
Media and Revolution 2.0: Tiananmen to Tahrir
New media inspires new generation to protest? It’s an old trope, argues a China scholar taking a practiced eye at the turmoil in the Arab world.
Reviewing 2010 Books on China's Impact
The author of "China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know" examines the current crop of books aiming to open Western eyes to China in this "post-post-Cold War Era."
Three Ways of Looking at the PRC's Latest Campaigns
The ghost of Mao can certainly be divined in China's current anti-vulgarity campaign, but he may have to take a back seat to capitalist-roaders Chiang Kai-shek and Lee Kuan Yew.