Political Science Commons^™

The Prc And Pr: Baffling Messages In Times Square?, Christopher C. Heselton

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Amid all the fanfare and fear-mongering over President Hu Jintao’s visit to the United States last week, the Chinese government has also launched an advertising campaign to enhance its national image in America. The campaign includes a 60-second ad showing on a mega screen at Time Square, New York, a 30-second segment at Gallery Place, Washington DC (DC’s “Chinatown,” though it’s a rather small one), and a series of 15-second advertisements airing on several news networks over a multi-week period. A host of Chinese celebrities, models, entrepreneurs, astronauts, and other household names appear in these advertisements, standing and smiling at …

“The Rise Of The Hans”: A Critique, Thomas S. Mullaney

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

“Rise of the Hans,” by Joel Kotkin, is a troubling article to find published in a high-profile venue such as Foreign Policy. It reinforces misleading ideas about China and is problematic for a variety of specific reasons, the biggest of which has to do with Kotkin’s use of key terms.

Searching For Influence And Persuasion In Network-Oriented Public Diplomacy: What Role For “Small States”?, Ivaylo Iaydjiev

Exchange: The Journal of Public Diplomacy

The discipline of public diplomacy has recently given rise to the concept of network-oriented public diplomacy. The purpose of the essay is twofold: first, to explore the idea and the underlying assumptions of this "new" public diplomacy; second, to ask whether public diplomacy could be an effective tool for "small states" since most of the scholarship is written from the viewpoint of a great power. To this end, this work is proceeding in three main parts: First, the notion of network-oriented diplomacy is examined by contrasting it to traditional diplomacy and traditional public diplomacy. Second, the essay demonstrates how the …

Stretching The Parameters Of Diplomatic Protocol: Incursion Into Public Diplomacy, Shahidul Alam

Exchange: The Journal of Public Diplomacy

The end of the Cold War saw the United States retrenching its public diplomacy program. However, as the sole remaining superpower, it saw the opportunity to spread its values and ideals – particularly those of liberal democracy, human rights, and the free market economy – to those countries that were lacking in them. Paradoxically, intense public diplomacy efforts were required in pursuit of that objective. Traditional diplomats then began to take on public diplomacy functions, but, in so doing, often violated Article 41 of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. They were mostly from the United States, while the …

The Internet And China’S Response To The Japan Earthquake, Daniel Knorr

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

A few days after the Japan earthquake last month, the high school student I tutor asked if I had considered leaving Beijing with my wife. I had been keeping up with the news about the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant, and to the best of my knowledge there was no real threat to us in Beijing so I was a little surprised by his question. Even though I assumed the nuclear plant was the source of his concern, I asked what he was referring to. (Honestly, part of me was a little afraid that he knew something I didn’t.) …

Frivolous Friday: In Praise Of Jianbing 煎饼, Maura Elizabeth Cunningham

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Wednesday morning began like any other. I poured some cereal, made a pot of coffee, and flipped open my laptop to catch up on what had filled my Google Reader and Twitter feed overnight. One of the links I clicked on took me to Evan Osnos’s Condé Nast Traveler article about the ongoing “creative destruction” of Beijing, where my morning routine ended as soon as I read this paragraph:

A Quick Q & A With Tom Scocca–Author Ofbeijing Welcomes You, Jeffrey Wasserstrom

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Tom Scocca’s engaging new book, Beijing Welcomes You: Unveiling the Capital City of the Future, which explores his experiences in China during its pre-Olympic and Olympic moments, has been getting enthusiastic reviews, includingone by Jonathan Yardley of the Washington Post and one that yours truly did forTime. Seeing references online to the author giving talks about his book at various East Coast venues, I decided to send a few questions his way on topics ranging from the reaction he’s getting from audiences to how he keeps up with Chinese events now that he’s based back in the US. He readily …

Dalian’S Past, Dalian’S Present, Part 2, Miriam Kingsberg

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The tens of thousands of Dalian residents who gathered this weekend to demand the relocation of a chemical plant were responding to a contemporary situation. Their protest, though, reflected a complicated relationship among the people, the state, and the environment that was inscribed in the city from the very moment of its founding.

Screening Tiananmen, Chris Berry

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Recently, I’ve been spending a lot more time in Shanghai than in Beijing. This is because of a research project comparing moving image screens—mostly Lighting-Emitting Diode (LED) screens—as part of everyday culture in public places in Cairo, Shanghai and London. (If you’re interested, you can read more about that here.) But in the meantime, I had heard about the Jumbotron screen installed in the middle of Tiananmen Square. So, when I made it back to Beijing for the first time since just before the 2008 Olympics to do a bit of teaching at the Chinese Film summer school organized by …

Reading Round-Up, 1/11/11

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

• When a football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings was canceled in late December due to heavy snow in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell was not pleased. Calling the United States “a nation of wusses,” Rendell went on to say

The Man In The Picture

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Earlier this week, we published Alice Miller’s post on what wasn’t new about Hu Jintao’s recent comments on human rights; at about the same time, Time.com posted a commentary by China Beat consulting editor Jeffrey Wasserstrom that listed other things that weren’t novel about the recent summit.

China Events In Southern California, February 8-22

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

China Beat readers living in and around the Southern California region might want to check out one or more of these events in the upcoming weeks:

Reading Round-Up: Richard Mcgregor’S The Party

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Financial Times journalist Richard McGregor is this year’s recipient of the Asia Society’s Bernard Schwartz Book Award for his 2010 investigation into Chinese leadership, The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers. If you haven’t caught up with McGregor’s book yet, here are a few links about it to whet your appetite:

Harbin’S Past, Modern Style, James Carter

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Historical preservation in China’s ever-growing cities is a challenge. Transformations to Beijing and Shanghai are best documented (for example, as evocatively narrated by Michael Meyer in his Last Days of Old Beijing), but dozens of cities, up and down the coast especially, are witnessing historically rapid change, and a rapid change to their histories.

Factories Without Smoke: Wang Jia Yi And Gao Tian Ci, Chris Cherry

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Wang Jia Yi and Gao Tian Ci, Dalian to San Li Village, Anhui Province

“How Can We Hope To Make A Living If Our Roots Are Cut?”: Track-Laying, Modernization, And People’S Livelihood In Republican Beijing, Jared Hall

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

In a post yesterday at this site, I discussed recent cleavages between the rapidly expanding Beijing Subway and segments of the public the system is meant to serve. In that post, I pointed to residents who voiced concerns about property seizures, safety lapses, and excessive noise from nearby tracks. When the subway corporation attempted to shut out community objections related to each of these issues, residents then utilized a common repertoire of protest that included petitions, visits to government offices, and public demonstrations.

Chinese Tour Groups In Europe, Chinese Tour Groups In Yunnan: Narrating A Nation In The World, Tami Blumenfield

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The first winter I stayed with a Moso (sometimes spelled Mosuo) family in southwest China, my weeks of Naru language tutoring did not help me get very far in understanding their conversations. I had trouble sorting out the names and relationships of the ten to eighteen family members who ate meals together and lived in that household. The apu (grandfather) joked to me that I, an American citizen who had been living in China, was now in the foreign country’s foreign country; no wonder I was disoriented. Their corner of Yunnan was culturally and linguistically distinct from other parts of …

China’S Water Challenges: A Quick Q & A With Environmental Historian Kenneth Pomeranz, Jeffrey Wasserstrom

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Ken Pomeranz, Kate Merkel-Hess and I had various reasons for launching this blog at the start of 2008. One thing that led us to start the venture, at a time when Kate was the only one of us with any blogging experience, was simply a sense that some of the things that we were saying to one another over lunch and in the hallways at UC Irvine might be of interest to people in other places who were working on, living in, or just curious about China. As much as the venture has developed since then (adding new contributors continually, …

Excerpt: Why Taiwan Matters: Small Island, Global Powerhouse, Shelley Rigger

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Taipei 101, the blue-green glass tower that reigned for six years as the world’s tallest building, is everywhere in Taiwan. Its image appears on advertisements, magazine covers, brochures, guidebooks, and billboards; the soaring structure itself is visible from nearly everywhere in Taipei City. As ubiquitous as Shanghai’s Oriental Pearl TV tower—and considerably more graceful—Taipei 101 has become the iconic image of contemporary Taiwan.

Soft Power With Chinese Characteristics: Promoting Creative Industries While Maintaining Political Control, Thomas Glucksmann-Smith

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

On October 15-18th 2011 during the latest Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee, China’s leaders discussed ways to make China a ‘culturally strong nation’ (文化强国) and defined strategies to enhance China’s international soft power. This meeting coincided with tax evasion charges laid against China’s world renowned artist Ai Weiwei—charges he now plans to challenge.

Ai Weiwei, recently described by Art Review as the ‘world’s most powerful artist’ would, in any other nation, be regarded as a perfect diplomat for his country’s cultural industries. But, for China’s CCP leaders Mr Ai’s political activism and provocative behaviour has gone too …

The Perseverance Of Neoliberalism: Why Obama Has Not Shifted Trade Policy In Response To The Great Recession, Brian Pratt

Theses & Honors Papers

This thesis examines Obama’s reasons for not shifting trade during the recession. The author goes into depth about how business groups influence Obama and his decisions on trade policies. Obama’s and Clinton’s administrations and their policies, through documents, speeches, and other sources, are also compared due to the fact that Clinton was the last Democratic president. Scholarly literature is also examined in regards to both Clinton’s and Obama’s presidency.

Mexican Cartel Strategic Note No. 8: 230,000 Internally Displaced Persons (Idps) In Mexico And ‘Narco-Refugee’ Potentials For The United States, Robert J. Bunker

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Mexican Cartel Strategic Note No. 7: Us National Security And The Mexican Cartels: Proceso Magazine Interview With Dr. Robert J. Bunker, Robert J. Bunker

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Growing Mexican Cartel And Vigilante War In Cyberspace: Information Offensives And Counter-Offensives, Robert J. Bunker

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

This short essay blends traditional Mexican cartel analysis indicative of earlier Small Wars Journal writings by this author with advanced (5th dimensional) warfighting concepts. These concepts have utility for engagement with non-state (new warmaking) entities. They are being increasingly discussed now that cyberspace and ‘dual dimensional’ operations are more frequently breaking out in the Mexican conflict.

Mexican Cartel Strategic Note No. 3: U.S. Strategy To Combat Transnational Organized Crime: Doa (Dead On Arrival)?, Robert J. Bunker

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Mexican Cartel Tactical Note No. 3: Narco Armored Vehicle Threats And Countermeasures, Robert J. Bunker

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Mexican Cartel Tactical Note No. 6: Cross Border Incursion With Swat Teams Responding: 15 Cartel/Gang Gunmen Cross Into Us Near Escobares, Texas, Robert J. Bunker, Sid Heal

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Criminal (Cartel & Gang) Insurgencies In Mexico And The Americas: What You Need To Know, Not What You Want To Hear, Robert J. Bunker

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

We need this basic premise to be clear—that Mexico is facing something way beyond an organized crime threat. With this as the premise from which it starts, this congressional testimony will posit that the Mérida Initiative as it stands is too myopic in nature given the on-the-ground realities currently present in Mexico. These two contentions will herein be discussed in more detail and their merits supported by evidence from my own work and that of other area and subject specialists. Of necessity, therefore, the testimony will focus upon the broader security environment and the policy and strategic levels of analysis. …

Mexican Cartel Strategic Note No. 5: Border Corruption Of Us Officials By The Mexican Cartels & Cases Shown, Robert J. Bunker

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Mexican Cartel Strategic Note No. 4: Texas Border Security: A Strategic Military Assessment, Robert J. Bunker

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

No abstract provided.