The Ganges and India’s Future: an interview with Victor Mallet
Nicholas Gordon interviews Victor Mallet, author of River of Life, River of Death.
“BRICS or Bust? Escaping the Middle-Income Trap” by Hartmut Elsenhans and Salvatore Babones: an excerpt
The rise and fall of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, the so-called BRIC nations, is the great geo-economic story of the twenty-first century. In the early 2000s, these countries were tipped to redraw the economic map of the world. With a combined population of nearly 3 billion, they constituted roughly 40 percent of the world’s…
“China’s World” by Kerry Brown
The subtitle of Kerry Brown’s new book, China’s World: What Does China Want?, is a question that is on the minds of the world’s statesmen, policymakers, international relations scholars, global investment advisors, international business leaders and geopolitical thinkers. Given China’s growing global diplomatic, economic, and military footprint, the answer to that question will shape the…
“Choked: Everything You Were Afraid to Know about Air Pollution” by Pallavi Aiyar
It is that time of the year again. The day after Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights loudly celebrated with an army of firecrackers, Delhi residents wake up with something that is worse than a hangover: a cloud of toxic fumes stubbornly sitting on the face of the Indian capital, choking it to a slow…
“The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao” by Ian Johnson
The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao, by journalist Ian Johnson, is an infectious, celebratory book about the state of religion in mainland China since the 1980s. Framed around the lives of various religious devotees in China—ranging from solitary seekers to associations to experts —Johnson explores different aspects of Chinese religion and…
Easternization: “A game-changer for not just the world economy, but also for international politics”
Nicholas Gordon interviews Gideon Rachman, author of Easternization: Asia’s Rise and America’s Decline From Obama to Trump and Beyond.
Two new reports on Sino-Russian relations
While it may be true, as writes Robert Sutter in the introduction to National Bureau of Asian Research’s excellent report “Russia-China Relations”, that “The United States has a long experience in assessing the twists and turns of the relationship between Russia and China and what it means for US interests”, most casual (Western-oriented) observers are…
“A significant deterioration of the political environment”: an interview with Michael Vatikiotis
Nicholas Gordon interviews Michael Vatikiotis, author of Blood and Silk.
“The Souls of China” by Ian Johnson
How does one quantify something as ephemeral as faith? We have become familiar with accounts of China which predicate their analysis on statistics—hard numbers seeming one of the few means of offering an objective view of the scale and complexity of the country. And certainly when it comes to faith in modern China the numbers…
“Generation HK: Seeking Identity in China’s Shadow” by Ben Bland
Whether or not you agree with the arguments of Hong Kong’s student activists, everyone can agree that their emergence has been one of the biggest changes to Hong Kong’s political situation for at least a decade.
“The ASEAN Miracle: A Catalyst for Peace” by Kishore Mahbubani and Jeffery Sng
The ASEAN Miracle observes that Southeast Asia is the world’s most diverse region. Although obvious once mentioned, it still seems novel. Southeast Asia’s history is a mix of Chinese, Indian and Islamic influences, with sizable populations of several of the world’s major religions. Yet despite this and its complicated colonial and postcolonial history, Southeast Asian…
ASEAN has succeeded against all odds
Nicholas Gordon interviews Kishore Mahbubani, author of The ASEAN Miracle.
“China’s Banking Transformation: The Untold Story” by Jim Stent
“Finance is the lifeblood of the modern economy” has become something of a stock phrase for Chinese policymakers over recent years, uttered most recently by Xi Jinping as part of his speech to the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing in mid May. Although this sounds like a capitalist mantra, what precisely might be meant…
“Is China an Empire?” by Toh Han Shih
While the brightness of China’s economic and geopolitical future is a subject of recurring debate, the prospects for the “China book” industry seem undiminished. Toh Han Shih’s recent Is China an Empire? is, the title notwithstanding, one of the more straightforward and restrained entrants.
“Fixing Inequality in Hong Kong” by Yue Chim Richard Wong
Anyone who wishes to opine on Hong Kong’s perceived troubled present and possibly fraught future would do well to read Richard Wong’s Fixing Inequality in Hong Kong first.
