Sinobabble
A relaxing, educational podcast covering China's modern history, current events, and academic analyses of China's politics, society, and culture in a variety of mini-series. Starting with the history of the 20th century, this podcast aims to explore all facets of the history of China, from the major events to the smallest local changes, to give you a full picture of the development of one of the world's most powerful nations. As the series develops, we will discuss Chinese art, religion, politics, culture, and economics, bringing the country's past to life. If you're more interested in modern China, stay tuned for the modern China series where we talk about how the CCP exercises control, makes people disappear, and encourages loyalty. We also get on the ground and talk to the people of Hong Kong about their recent experiences with the protests in the territory in 2019.
Sinobabble
Think Tank China analysis is worthless, actually.
In this episode we discuss Western (mainly US) think tank analysis of China in the 1990s and early 2000s and ask ourselves if they provide any value either for the public discourse or as pieces of policy advice. While experts work hard to produce piece after piece, report after report, looking at China's economic, military, political and technological developments, the actual usefulness of these works either individually or as a collective needs to be evaluated. What started off as the search for a common thread in the evolution of China analysis over a 10 year period ended up being a lambasting of a staple of the intellectual economy. Whoops. We also discuss the problem with information overload in our modern age and the dangers of trying to predict the future.
This is a big talky episode, so be prepared to strap in for a whole lot of yappin'.
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction
(02:00) What is a think tank
(06:28) Think tanks analysed
(15:00) 1991-1995 - a period of foreshadowing
(31:50) 1996-1999 - a period of chaos
(46:36) 2000-2004 - a period
(53:12) The problem with information overload and predicting the future
(58:00) Conclusions
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