ARTICLES
DENG’S HEYDAY
Thanks to Liu Kin Ming at the Hong Kong Economic Journal, I had the chance to write about my first trip to China--in 1984--and what it was like then.
OPEN THE ARCHIVES
As the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 anniversary approaches, we still have little idea just how extensive western governments' collusion with Islamists has been over the past few decades.
LIAO YIWU INTERVIEW IN THE NEW YORK REVIEW
I believe this interview in the New York Review is the first interview with Chinese author Liao Yiwu since he fled into exile to Berlin last month.
ON THE PARTY CIRCUIT, AND UPSETTING THE PARTY
I recently had the opportunity to profile Chan Koonchung (aka Chen Guanzhong), the Hong Kong author who wrote a dystopian novel that's recently been published in English as "The Fat Years."
THE HIGH PRICE OF THE NEW BEIJING
Here's a review essay in the current issue of the NYRB on saving/destroying/rebuilding Olde Pekinge.
CHINA’S GLORIOUS NEW PAST
I've been fascinated by China's auto-cultural genocide (the willful destruction of its own culture) and efforts to reverse this.
DID WE CONTRIBUTE TO AI WEIWEI’S ARREST?
The arrest of the dissident artist Ai Weiwei has bothered me quite a bit and in this NYRB blogpost I look at some of the issues. No grand conclusions, but maybe some ideas to ponder.
INSIDE THE WORLD’S LARGEST MUSEUM
Here's a piece in the NYT on the battle over two permanent exhibitions on Chinese history at the newly refurbished National Museum of China.
GERMAN BOOK TOUR
I've been in Germany now for almost a week. On March 18/19, I was at the Leipzig Book Fair. On March 25 and April 5 I'll be giving talks in Berlin and on March 31 in Munich. I'd welcome your attendance if you're in either city.
WASHINGTON’S SECRET HISTORY WITH THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD
This picture of President Eisenhower meeting with, among others, one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood (2nd from right, Said Ramadan) is part of a new blogpost I wrote in the New York Review of Books on our fractured relationship with the Brotherhood.
MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD VIDEO ON ITUNES U
The upheaval in North Africa and the Middle East is focusing attention on the Muslim Brotherhood.