In the aftermath of the Geneva accords constraining Iran’s nuclear program, some critics of the deal have compared it to the 1994 Agreed Framework with North Korea that fell apart in 2002 and ended with the North building and testing nuclear weapons. This criticism ignores major differences between Iran – a large, influential country that relies on exporting oil and pays at least some attention to popular sentiment – and North Korea – a small, hereditary totalitarian dictatorship kept afloat by neighboring China.

Christopher K. Johnson, Senior Advisor and Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), led a discussion on Chinese domestic politics and foreign policy at the most recent “China Speaker Series” seminar hosted by Georgetown University’s Asian Studies Program. The Journal sat down with Mr. …

In this piece for The Diplomat, East Asia Program Research Associate Dirk van der Kley assesses the difficulties facing the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Publication Type: Commentary

Abstract

In the debate on authoritarian resilience, the importance of persuasion to regime legitimacy has been widely acknowledged, yet a conceptual framework explaining the role of persuasion is still lacking. Against this backdrop, we argue that the framing perspective (Benford and Snow 1988) provides a useful basis for such a framework. Drawing on Beetham’s (1991) legitimacy model, we contend that the ruling elites in authoritarian regimes propagate official frames in a continuous effort to reproduce the belief of the populace in the elites’ leadership qualities and their determination to serve the common interest. In the empirical part of our paper we look at the case of China, where the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has in recent years reemphasized persuasion as a means of reproducing legitimacy. We then apply our theory in an analysis of the conceptual shifts in the CCP’s frames and ideology, as propagated under its secretary general, Hu Jintao.

The resilience of China’s economy since the 2008 financial crisis has provided a welcome boost to global demand and substantial progress has been made in rebalancing China’s external accounts. However, according to the latest International Monetary Fund annual report on China’s economy, the pattern of economic activity in the world’s second largest economy has become […]

Drawing from my own ethnographic research with wealthy entrepreneurs as well as several recent insider accounts of corrupt officials’ activities in China, this paper examines many of the practices associated with corruption–distributing favors, keeping mistresses, luxury consumption, etc.–as gendered practices. I argue that corruption should be understood primarily not in terms of wayward individuals but […]

Yang’s work reflects the ideals and anxieties of the generation born during and after the Cultural Revolution that is struggling to find its place in the rapidly changing society of the new China. Although he draws much of his subject matter from the consumerist contexts of contemporary urban China, many of his images recall the […]

There was the “millionaire’s tax cut” gambit. Playing off small and big businesses against each other. Declaring the NHS the “the greatest institution of our country” and promising to reverse reforms of it, irrespective of outcomes. Not just opposing the implementation of the so-called bedroom tax, but apparently opposing it in principle. Labelling the Conservatives […]

In Europe, intellectuals and politicians are currently arguing about national indebtedness, structural adjustment programs, and of course, about the crisis. In this discussion however, an important question has been overlooked: how could the crisis be used in positive fashion? Our answer is simple: the social economy sector should be strengthened, especially cooperatives. The term “social […]

The United States has now effectively abandoned its previous policy on Assad: recall that President Obama publicly called for regime change in Syria in August 2011, and the White House and Congress together later toughened sanctions designed to force Assad out. Supporters of the Kerry-Lavrov deal claim that regime change was never a part of […]