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I have a book review out in Foreign Policy Magazine. The book reviewed: Inside the Mind of Xi Jinping https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/11/21/xi-jinping-china-communist-party-francois-bougon/
This book is by @Francois_Bougon. You can buy it here: https://amzn.to/2Yg3MaP
In a blog post I wrote earlier this summer I excerpted a few passages I found especially interesting here: https://scholars-stage.blogspot.com/2019/07/two-case-studies-in-communist-insecurity.html
In a blog post I wrote earlier this summer I excerpted a few passages I found especially interesting here: https://scholars-stage.blogspot.com/2019/07/two-case-studies-in-communist-insecurity.html
The book is kind of interesting. In contrast to @LizEconomy's book on Xi Jinping, which is really more about everything the CPC and the Chinese gov has done with Xi in power, Bougon focuses on Xi Jinping the man and especially the ideas that motivate him.
It is currently my go-to book when people say, "What should I read to understand what China wants?" or "Explain to me how the Party thinks about the world."
It is short & readable. I summarize some of the main themes in the review but I encourage you to go purchase it yourself.
It is short & readable. I summarize some of the main themes in the review but I encourage you to go purchase it yourself.
Incidentally this is not the first time I have written about Xi's worldview and the mindset of the Communist elite. Just a few days ago I wrote a blog post that covers similar ground to this review:
https://scholars-stage.blogspot.com/2019/11/a-note-on-historical-nihilism.html
https://scholars-stage.blogspot.com/2019/11/a-note-on-historical-nihilism.html
Last month Foreign Policy published another of my reviews, that of a book which explains how the Communists describe their own goals in their own documents: https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/12/american-values-survive-chinese-world-xi-jinping/
I have also translated a speech by Xi Jinping: https://scholars-stage.blogspot.com/2019/06/xi-jinping-explains-his-political.html
And engaged with John Garnaut's sketch of what he thinks motivates Xi Jinping: https://scholars-stage.blogspot.com/2019/03/reflections-on-chinas-stalinist.html
And engaged with John Garnaut's sketch of what he thinks motivates Xi Jinping: https://scholars-stage.blogspot.com/2019/03/reflections-on-chinas-stalinist.html
