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April 19, 2005
China's Stresses, Military Buildups... and Futures

Cicero had another very fine piece last week called "Wish You Happy." It brings his usual lyrical style to bear on China's reputation as an exploitative low-cost manufacturer, the environmental dimension of the Chinese miracle, unrest among the populace, and the environmentalist gap. The phrase "Kyoto stinks" will never again register with me in quite the same way....

As we've seen over the past 2 weeks, the Chinese government is more than happy to channel some of that simmering angst into nationalism with a hostile edge, even as it seeks to keep control of what it is unleashing. Fortunately, this is a subject Winds has covered before. Which is why I want to return to that coverage and the debates it spawned, throw in a couple of items about the geo-political and military dimensions of China's rise, and tie all that into a look at some potential futures.

Note the use of the plural "futures." This post will not be about convincing you of one specific view of China's future. That's partly because I don't have one. Instead, I'd rather introduce you to some new ideas about what that future could look like, and leave you better informed about some of the dynamics by laying out some good thought-pieces and good sources. Then you can get informed, think it over, come to your own conclusions, and hopefully return to discuss it.

The issue is important enough to be worth it.

Posted by Winds of Change at April 19, 2005 12:11 AM | TrackBack
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