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Jan 10, 2025 | 
foreignaffairs.com | Ronald R. Krebs |Alexander Cooley |Daniel Nexon |Michael Beckley
During his successful 2024 reelection campaign, incoming U.S. President Donald Trump promised to purge the military of “woke” generals. Soon after his November victory, The Wall Street Journal reported that his transition team had drafted an executive order to establish a so-called warrior board of retired senior military officers tasked with identifying serving generals and admirals who ought to be dismissed.
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Jan 7, 2025 | 
foreignaffairs.com | James M. Lindsay |Michael Beckley |Daniel Lynch |Amy Zegart
By all appearances, the United States is a mess. Two-thirds of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track, and nearly 70 percent rate the economy as “not good” or “poor.” Public trust in government has fallen by half, from 40 percent in 2000 to just 20 percent today. Love of country is fading, too, with only 38 percent of Americans now saying patriotism is “very important” to them, down from 70 percent in 2000.
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Jan 7, 2025 | 
archive.ph | Michael Beckley |Daniel Lynch |Amy Zegart |Steven Simon
By all appearances, the United States is a mess. Two-thirds of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track, and nearly 70 percent rate the economy as “not good” or “poor.” Public trust in government has fallen by half, from 40 percent in 2000 to just 20 percent today. Love of country is fading, too, with only 38 percent of Americans now saying patriotism is “very important” to them, down from 70 percent in 2000.
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Dec 6, 2024 | 
aei.org | Michael Beckley
China is ramping up domestic repression to a degree that transcends the typical bounds of authoritarianism. This isn’t mere autocracy – its regime increasingly resembles fascism. I use the term cautiously, aware of its historical weight, but the hallmarks are too striking to ignore. Read more at The Globalist…
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Dec 6, 2024 | 
theglobalist.com | Michael Beckley |Markus Heinrich
China is ramping up domestic repression to a degree that transcends the typical bounds of authoritarianism. This isn’t mere autocracy – its regime increasingly resembles fascism. I use the term cautiously, aware of its historical weight, but the hallmarks are too striking to ignore. First hallmark: Cult-like worship of Xi Jinping The first hallmark is the cult-like worship of Xi Jinping. State propaganda portrays Xi as the culmination of a holy trinity in Chinese history.
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Nov 18, 2024 | 
aei.org | Michael Beckley
Today on AirTalk, President Biden has authorized Ukraine to use longer-range missiles to strike targets inside Russia — how will this shift in policy affect military operations on the ground? Also, a new UCLA study says L.A.’s plan to invest in wastewater recycling could be just what we need to prevent future water shortages — its authors explain why. For today’s look into SoCal history; Motown Records and their move to Los Angeles in the early 70s.
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Nov 3, 2024 | 
journalofdemocracy.org | Zoltan Barany |Michael Beckley |Hal Brands |Kevin Sheives
Beijing is bent on curbing democratic freedoms and imposing totalitarianism at home and abroad. Increasingly, the People’s Republic is launching democracy-subversion campaigns masked as development aid in the Global South. Zoltan Barany dissects China’s influence operations in the October issue of the Journal of Democracy, and offers ways for even fragile democracies to combat autocratic influence. The PRC aims to make the world safe for authoritarianism.
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Sep 29, 2024 | 
journalofdemocracy.org | Michael Beckley |Hal Brands |Carl Minzner
Founded on 1 October 1949, the People’s Republic of China has entered a new age, as Xi centralizes power in his own hands and abandons the ideological openness of the reform era. Under Xi, regime stability trumps all — and the PRC is weaker and less stable as a result. As the PRC marks its 75th anniversary, where will China go next?
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Aug 20, 2024 | 
almendron.com | Michael Beckley
In the 2000s, former President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela bet his country’s economic future on a rising China, securing tens of billions of dollars in investments and loans-for-oil deals. It paid off at first. China voraciously consumed Venezuelan oil and financed infrastructure projects from a high-speed railway to power plants. The 2010s brought a reckoning. Oil prices fell, and growth in Chinese oil demand slowed along with its economy.
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Aug 19, 2024 | 
aei.org | Michael Beckley
In the 2000s, former President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela bet his country’s economic future on a rising China, securing tens of billions of dollars in investments and loans-for-oil deals. It paid off at first. China voraciously consumed Venezuelan oil and financed infrastructure projects from a high-speed railway to power plants. The 2010s brought a reckoning. Oil prices fell, and growth in Chinese oil demand slowed along with its economy.
