Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
As China goes global it is making a concerted effort at improving its international image and boosting its soft power. But is this strategy translating into an improvement of its soft power quotient?
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
It is clear by now that China’s economy is set to slow in the years to come, although economists disagree about how much and for how long.
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
When the average growth rate in emerging markets hit over seven percent a year in the last decade, forecasters hyped its implications. Today, more than five years after the financial crisis of 2008, the euphoria seems to have waned
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
In the next decade, China will continue to rise, not fade. Its leaders will consolidate the one-party model and, in the process, challenge the West’s smug certainty about political development and the inevitable march toward electoral democracy.
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
The Obama administration plans to restrain Chinese belligerence by reinforcing U.S. military and diplomatic links to the Asia-Pacific. However, in order to avoid further Chinese resistance to its policies, the U.S. must look for possible avenues of cooperation with the country.
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
There’s been much talk about the “the rise of the rest,” with Brazil, Russia, India, and China leading the charge. However, few countries can sustain unusually fast growth for a decade, and even fewer, for more than that. As the boom years begin to end, the international order won’t change as much as expected.
Courtesy: Anna Frodesiak/WikimediaCommons
China's legal system is more formalized and better functioning than many realize. Still, given the Chinese Communist Party's lock on judicial power, the country still has work to do.
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
Until now, the U.S.-China policy has been driven by a blend of engagement and balancing. The Obama administration’s concentration on ‘engagement’ has done nothing to halt Beijing’s military build-up. The next administration should work towards bolstering the ‘balancing’ half of Washington’s strategic equation.
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
China seems to want the yuan to dethrone the dollar as the global reserve currency. But don’t expect China’s currency to take over anytime soon. The yuan will rise, but far slower than predicted, and Beijing’s puzzling efforts to help it along reveal flaws in the government’s divided and incremental approach.
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
As Indonesia hosts a number of high-level summits this year, it looks set to take its place among the world’s economic superstars. But celebrations are premature: although Indonesia has made great strides, its gains are reversible. To continue to prosper, Jakarta must address rampant corruption and poor governance