Thomas Pepinsky's guest appearances

Thomas Pepinsky

Lowy Institute

Sinica Podcast

Evan Osnos

Kurt Campbell

Donald Trump

Cheng Li

Richard McGregor

Dexter Roberts

Kevin Rudd

Jane Perlez

Nicholas Lardy

Barbara Finamore

Susan Thornton

Ian Johnson

Gareth Evans

Paul Haenle

Kaiser Kuo

OwlTail

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Thomas Pepinsky and Jessica Chen Weiss, both professors of government at Cornell University, about their recent essay in Foreign Affairs, “The Clash of Systems? Washington Should Avoid Ideological Competition With Beijing.” In that essay, they argue that, despite all the talk of Chinese authoritarianism as an existential threat to American democracy, Beijing is mostly on the defensive, and does not seek to export its political system. This is not to say that American democracy is not under threat: It very much is — but not from China. Tom, a specialist on Southeast Asia, looks at the ASEAN countries and their relations with Beijing to show that ideological affinity is not a predictor of close ties to China. And Jessica offers an update to her influential 2019 essay on China’s effort to “make the world safe for autocracy.”8:08: Defining ideology and ideological competition 19:57: Beijing’s transactional conduct with nations in Southeast Asia and the geostrategic implications25:20: How the current rhetoric in the United States fuels Sinophobia and anti-Asian racism36:01: China as the disgruntled stakeholder A transcript of this episode is available on SupChina.com.Recommendations:Tom: The French television shows Lupin and The Bureau. Jessica: “The Ezra Klein Show” podcast interview with Jamila Michener, and anything written by Yangyang Cheng.Kaiser: Music to read by: The Goldberg Variations (particularly the 1982 version performed by Glenn Gould and the version performed by Lang Lang), The Well-Tempered Clavier, and The French Suites, by Johann Sebastian Bach, and the YouTube series “What Makes This Song Great?,” by Rick Beato.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with <a href="https://government.cornell.edu/thomas-pepinsky" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Thomas Pepinsky</a> and <a href="https://government.cornell.edu/jessica-weiss" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Jessica Chen Weiss</a>, both professors of government at Cornell University, about their recent essay in Foreign Affairs, “<a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2021-06-11/clash-systems" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The Clash of Systems? Washington Should Avoid Ideological Competition With Beijing</a>.” In that essay, they argue that, despite all the talk of Chinese authoritarianism as an existential threat to American democracy, Beijing is mostly on the defensive, and does not seek to export its political system. This is not to say that American democracy is not under threat: It very much is — but not from China. Tom, a specialist on Southeast Asia, looks at the ASEAN countries and their relations with Beijing to show that ideological affinity is not a predictor of close ties to China. And Jessica offers an update to her influential 2019 essay on China’s effort to “make the world safe for autocracy.”8:08: Defining ideology and ideological competition 19:57: Beijing’s transactional conduct with nations in Southeast Asia and the geostrategic implications25:20: How the current rhetoric in the United States fuels Sinophobia and anti-Asian racism36:01: China as the disgruntled stakeholder <a href="https://supchina.com/2021/07/15/why-u-s-should-avoid-ideological-competition-with-china/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">A transcript of this episode is available on SupChina.com</a>.Recommendations:Tom: The French television shows <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga0iTWXCGa0" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Lupin</a> and <a href="https://www.sundancenow.com/series/watch/the-bureau/8655a6ee767fc037?season=1" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The Bureau</a>. Jessica: “The Ezra Klein Show” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/08/podcasts/transcript-ezra-klein-interviews-jamila-michener.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">podcast interview</a> with Jamila Michener, and anything written by <a href="https://supchina.com/author/yangyangcheng/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Yangyang Cheng</a>.Kaiser: Music to read by: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15ezpwCHtJs" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The Goldberg Variations</a> (particularly the 1982 version performed by <a href="https://youtu.be/qo6VfM0PSlQ" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Glenn Gould</a> and the version performed by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55hk75OgWDg" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Lang Lang</a>), <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPHIZw7HZq4" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The Well-Tempered Clavier</a>, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmEa7KX6D00" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The French Suites</a>, by Johann Sebastian Bach, and the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW0NGgv1qnfzb1klL6Vw9B0aiM7ryfXV_" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">YouTube series</a> “What Makes This Song Great?,” by Rick Beato.See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

Avoiding ideological conflict with Beijing: Thomas Pepinsky and Jessica Chen Weiss

Lowy Institute Research Fellow Aaron Connelly talks to Cornell University's Thomas Pepinsky on the state of Malaysia's domestic politics, how the world sees Malaysia, and how it will likely position itself in the context of rising US-China tensions.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lowy Institute Research Fellow Aaron Connelly talks to Cornell University's Thomas Pepinsky on the state of Malaysia's domestic politics, how the world sees Malaysia, and how it will likely position itself in the context of rising US-China tensions.See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

Quick comment: Thomas Pepinsky on Malaysian politics