What China’s Ideologue in Chief Really Believes
In the post–Cold War era, the
Western world has suffered no shortage of grand theories of history and
international relations. The settings and actors may change, but the global
geopolitical drama goes on: variants of realism and liberalism compete to
explain and predict state behavior, scholars debate whether the world is
witnessing the end of history, a clash of civilizations, or something else
entirely. And it is no surprise that the question that now attracts more
analytical attention than any other is the rise of China under President Xi
Jinping and the challenge it presents to American power. In the run-up to the
20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (ccp), as Xi has
maneuvered to consolidate his power and secure an unprecedented third term,
Western analysts have sought to decode the worldview that drives him and his
ambitions for China.
