Archive
Essays & Papers
Earlier essays, book reviews, and academic papers. 36 pieces from the original collection, with citations as margin notes.
Academic, International Relations
Power contra Prestige
A dual model of how states attain status and influence — bringing the life sciences' prestige/dominance theory into international relations.
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Finance & Investing, Political Economy, International Relations
Spring Time in Uzbekistan?
Political risk for frontier investors amid reform in post-Karimov Uzbekistan.
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36 essays and papers
2021
July 26, 2021Review: The Long Game by Rush DoshiHundred-Year Marathon 2.0?ChinaJuly 26, 2021The Dialectic of DevelopmentIndustrial Policy and the Living Legacy of Internal ColonizationChinaJune 16, 2021Economic Coercion with American CharacteristicsCan US-led Financial and Economic Sanctions Change Beijing’s Behavior in Xinjiang?Finance & InvestingApril 29, 2021San Francisco’s Tech Fiefdom is Dying. That’s Good for America.If you’re a member of the burgeoning American upper middle class or have relationships with any such yuppies, you have probably heard about “tech-xodus.” The term refers to the rapidly rising rate of techies leaving San ...Finance & InvestingMarch 10, 2021Consolidation and Decadence: The Fate of States“The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been.” – Romance of the Three KingdomsPersonalMarch 9, 2021Reflexive ControlIn the State and Revolution, Vladimir Lenin foreshadowed something sinister. He wrote:PersonalMarch 2, 2021Atomization and the Future of the CCP'Despite four hundred million people gathered in one China, we are, in fact, but a sheet of loose sand [yipan sansha (一盘散沙)]. We are the poorest and weakest state in the world, occupying the lowest position in internatio...ChinaFebruary 18, 2021Politics and PathogensThat politics and pathogens have an interconnection is now obvious to us moderns, thanks to COVID-19. But pathogens have a long history of interconnection with politics. Viruses and bacteria have, in key ways, shaped our...HistoryFebruary 16, 2021Which Strategy Rules: Balance of Power or Divide and Conquer?If you ask a Western IR scholar what the most important concept in international relations is, the answer you may very well get is ‘the balance of power.’ This concept presupposes that weak states will seek to ally or jo...International RelationsFebruary 15, 2021Financialization: America’s Dutch DiseaseFinancialization: America’s Dutch DiseaseFinance & InvestingFebruary 13, 2021The Great Wall MentalityA review of Julia Lovell’s The Great WallChinaFebruary 12, 2021The Industrial Revolution, Prestige, and the Possibility of Peace“Revolutions are not made; they come.”Political EconomyFebruary 10, 2021The Path to Hell is Paved with Righteousness“When hopes and dreams are loose in the streets, it is well for the timid to lock doors, shutter windows and lie low until the wrath has passed. For there is often a monstrous incongruity between the hopes, however noble...Personal2020
October 26, 2020Founding BrothersA review of Founding Brothers by Joseph J, EllisBook ReviewAugust 25, 2020History and ContemplationA review of The Silks Roads by Peter FrankopanBook ReviewAugust 24, 202021 Lessons for the 21st Century: A ReviewAs with all of Yuval Noah Harari’s books, ‘21 Lessons for the 21st Century’ is an incisive exploration of complex issues. The benefits of Harari’s substantial experience as a meditator are on display, as he demonstrates ...Book ReviewAugust 24, 2020An Analysis of Entrepreneurship in ChinaCan a Leninist Political System Move China from Input-Led Growth to Innovation-Led Growth?ChinaAugust 20, 2020On ReadingThere is a trite truth I have come to realize over years of reading. The best books don’t just change what you think, they change how you think. The best teachers and professors don’t fill you up with knowledge, as if po...PersonalAugust 19, 2020Leadership by Prestige, Not DominanceA Life Science’s Heuristic for Maintaining American-Led OrderInternational RelationsJuly 14, 2020Culture vs. EconomicsAmericans fight over culture, but should fight over economicsPolitical EconomyMay 28, 2020Assets, Dictatorships, and DemocraciesAccording to Carl Boix, how do different assets and degrees of mobility combine to produce dictatorships and democracies?Political EconomyMay 28, 2020Capitalism, Inequality, and ParetoDoes capitalism as a system inherently lead to inequality?Political EconomyMay 28, 2020Ideas and Economic Crises'Ideas shape the course of history' - John Maynard KeynesPolitical EconomyMay 28, 2020Karl Polanyi vs Dialectical MaterialismHow, if at all, does Sandra Halperin correct Karl Polanyi’s Great Transformation?Political EconomyMay 28, 2020On Deterring Chinese Economic Coercion of New ZealandAuthoritarian regimes in Russia and China are presently engaged in an unprecedentedly expansive political warfare campaign.[1] China, in particular, has mobilized the entirety of its national power as a means to manipula...Political EconomyMay 28, 2020Populism and Its Economic DiscontentsHow would a rational choice thinker, an institutionalist, and a constructivist explain the recent surge of economic populism in the West, especially in the light of the 2016 Brexit vote in the UK and the victory of Donal...Political EconomyMay 28, 2020Three Musings on Risk & UncertaintyHow our perceptions of the world are often wrong, why they are wrong, and what we can do about it.May 28, 2020Win-Win Cooperation & Dual-Use PortsIt’s not just the economy, stupidPolitical EconomyMay 26, 2020Failure of the Élite: Neo-Liberalism, Globalization, & TechnologyDemocracy is in crisis: How Neo-Liberalism, Globalization, Technology, and Policy Makers Have Failed Workers in Liberal Democracies.Political EconomyMay 26, 2020Itʼs Time for a War on the War On DrugsWhy ending the war and changing the way we think about drug policy is a winning proposition for the American people, politicians, and the world.Political EconomyMay 26, 2020Review: Trade Wars Are Class WarsThis book is an opus of sorts for Pettis. Many of the ideas herein have already been expressed elsewhere–in his blog, in Volatility Machine, or in The Great Rebalancing.Book ReviewMay 26, 2020The Real Cyber WarCyber Sovereignty and the Splitting of the InternetChinaMay 26, 2020The Soviet Intervention into AfghanistanA Tale of Ideology, Power, and FearHistoryMay 26, 2020Xi Jinping vs Donald Trump: Game Theoretic Take on the Trade War[Note: this paper was written in May 2019]Political EconomyNo essays match. Try another title or topic.