Subversion is a “menace that spreads in the shadows…it secretly infiltrates and adversary’s society and institutions, manipulating, weakening, and disintegrating them from within” (2). Lennart Maschmeyer’s new book provides a theory of how subversion works, what its limitations are, and how it changes with technology. Maschmeyer frames subversion as an instrument of power that is…
Tag: China
H-Diplo | RJISSF Roundtable 16-31 on Mann, On Wars
On Wars, without a subtitle, is Michael Mann’s latest contribution to a long and distinguished career as a professor of sociology on both sides of the Atlantic. He is currently Emeritus Professor at the University of California–Los Angeles. Most famous for the four-volume The Sources of Social Power, which was produced over decades, Mann has…
H-Diplo | RJISSF Roundtable 16-25 on Snow, China and Russia
The title of Philip Snow’s massive new book is apt: China and Russia: Four Centuries of Conflict and Concord is essentially the thesis of the book. Over the course of the four hundred years or so covered in the book, Snow argues that the power dynamic between the entities called “China” and “Russia” vacillated from…
H-Diplo | RJISSF Roundtable 16-24 on Zhang, China’s Gambit
Ketian Zhang’s book seeks to depart from “pessimistic” and superficial assumptions about China’s behavior and the “likelihood of major conflicts” involving the Asian country (2). China, she maintains, “utilizes a full spectrum of coercive tools” (2), and its foreign policy is central to regional security in the Indo-Pacific, while also providing an example of rising…
H-Diplo | RJISSF Review Essay 115: Lim on Han, The Ripple Effect
One of the major strengths of The Ripple Effect is its context-sensitive deliberation on the multifaceted nature of China’s presence in primarily the Mekong states of Southeast Asia. Unlike other works that focus solely on, say, economics or politics, the book weaves together a broad spectrum of influences, encompassing economic ties, cultural diplomacy, geopolitical maneuvering,…
H-Diplo | RJISSF Roundtable 16-21 on Whitlark, All Options on the Table
Rachel Whitlark’s All Options on the Table: Leaders, Preventive War, and Nuclear Proliferation brings together two critical areas of international relations research: nuclear politics and the role of individual leaders. After the Cold War ended, many historians and political scientists turned their attention away from nuclear weapons—and even, for a few years, from international security more…
H-Diplo | RJISSF Roundtable 15-49 on Murphy, China’s Rise in the Global South
During the first few years of the 2020s, it has become increasingly difficult to talk about the future of the Middle East and Africa without eliciting the topic of great-power competition. While these regions have long been subject to the actions of external powers, the rise of China has transformed development options and skylines across…
H-Diplo | RJISSF Roundtable 15-48 on Torigian, Prestige, Manipulation, and Coercion
This is an extremely important book, which has received much attention—in journals, in speaking invitations for the author, and in the fellowships he has been awarded.[1] Its significance lies in the author’s argument that, unlike almost all previous scholarship on the subject of political succession in authoritarian and Communist regimes, it is not economic/material interests,…
H-Diplo | RJISSF Review Essay 101: Zhu on Leoni, Grand Strategy and the Rise of China
Observers can hardly reach a consensus about contemporary China. Scholars, journalists, and government officials often present totally different images of China. Some foresee China’s impending replacement of the United States as the global power; others predict China’s looming economic collapse and political breakdown.[1] Like the six blind men in an Indian parable who draw their…
H-Diplo | RJISSF Review Essay 99: Grgić on Moldicz, Geopolitics in Central Europe
An exploration into the contemporary geopolitical and geoeconomic dynamics of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has been a long-awaited addition to the academic literature and an ambitious feat, which Csaba Moldicz recognizes.[1] The main contribution of Geopolitics in Central Europe is that it acts as a catalyst for a deeper examination and critical discourse on…