Classics Considered

How does one become the President of China? If the electoral college seems at times hard to fathom, an election in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is even more esoteric.  According to Kerry Brown, author of CEO, China and former diplomat, the rise of Xi Jinping to the supreme leadership role in China "belonged more to the realm of magic than political science" (p. 92).  The process by which Xi replaced Hu Jintao (2003–2013) was unlike a democratic election, in part because it required a consensus amongst the Party: a one-party state cannot be seen as divided.  This image of unity is one which brought Xi to power and which continues to challenge him as he seeks to maintain that power. (Note: This is a multi-part review, though each part can be read on its own.  Please see Part I and Part II , if you'd like to read more.) U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, 2011 - by Jerry Morrison Coincidence and Conviction Xi's life has ...

As president of China, Xi Jinping presides over 18% of the world's population, and he is set to do so for life.  How did Xi rise to such prominence, and what can we learn from his life that will help us understand his future?  Kerry Brown's book, CEO, China , offers some clues as to the man behind the mystery. (Note: This is a multi-part review, though each part can be read on its own.  You can read Part I here if you like.) George W. Bush and Xi Jinping, August 2008 - by Eric Draper The Young Xi: Two Sides of History "The issue of whether Xi is a 'Maoist' is a live one in China," writes Brown (p. 10).  As he goes on to illustrate, Xi's historical and cultural relationship to Mao is not only complicated but personal, with origins that go back to Xi's childhood and his father, Xi Zhongxun. Xi Zhongxun began his career as a distinguished communist soldier, fighting  both the Japanese and the Chinese Nationalists throughout the 1930s-1940s.  This was an ...

"What do you know about the man who runs China?" the blurb demanded. "Nothing," I blinked.  Well, basically nothing. I couldn't believe it...I knew basically nothing about Xi Jinping, one of the most powerful leaders in the world today.  (I also have some Chinese heritage, which makes it even more embarrassing.) Xi, in fact, may wield more influence than any other secular leader.  He functions not only as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) but also as their "core leader" - putting him in the same league as Mao.  In parallel, he shows the other communist nations (nominally very few) what a strong communist leader looks like.  With a GDP on track to overtake the United States' in the next decade , China's version of socialism is not to be ignored, and Xi is well placed to be more than just a figurehead. Search Amazon for "xi jinping biography" and relatively few books come up.  Remove the word "biography...

Apologies for my two weeks' radio silence...  Work has been intense, so I haven't mustered up the energy to blog until this weekend.  Happily, I've been reading, and there is plenty to catch up on! My current obsession reading focus is an unlikely one: CEO, China: The Rise of Xi Jinping (2016) by Kerry Brown.  I picked this up last Saturday and just ordered my own hard copy - yes, it's that interesting. Brown is a professor at King's College, as well as a contributor to The Diplomat .  This combination of academia and journalism means his writing carries the best of both worlds and is well annotated, particularly for a book geared towards the general public.  (One or two reviewers complained he is too challenging to read... from my perspective, Brown's prose is more digestible than Michael Korda 's, no offense to Korda.) To be sure, the well-written biography is my favorite way to consume history.  There's several reasons for this: Certain individuals...