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The World Affairs Councils of America provides a monthly special program called “Cover to Cover” that features interactive phone conferencing with authors of global affairs related books. We thank them for their support and we are pleased to share this information with you here as a benefit of your affiliation with the Tennessee World Affairs Council.
The World Affairs Councils of America and the
Tennessee World Affairs Council Present
“Everything Under the Heavens: How the Past Helps Shape China’s Push for Global Power”
Howard W. French
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
1:00-1:30 p.m. CT.
From the former New York Times Asia correspondent and author of China’s Second Continent, an incisive investigation of China’s ideological development as it becomes an ever more aggressive player in regional and global diplomacy.
For many years after its reform and opening in 1978, China maintained an attitude of false modesty about its ambitions. That role, reports Howard French, has been set aside. China has asserted its place among the global heavyweights, revealing its plans for pan-Asian dominance by building its navy, increasing territorial claims to areas like the South China Sea, and diplomatically bullying smaller players. Underlying this attitude is a strain of thinking that casts China’s present-day actions in decidedly historical terms, as the path to restoring the dynastic glory of the past. If we understand how that historical identity relates to current actions, in ways ideological, philosophical, and even legal, we can learn to forecast just what kind of global power China stands to become–and to interact wisely with a future peer.
Steeped in deeply researched history as well as on-the-ground reporting, this is French at his revelatory best.
About the Author
Howard. W. French is Associate Professor of Journalism at Columbia University. He wrote from Africa for The Washington Post, and later was The New York Times bureau chief in Central America and the Caribbean, West and Central Africa, Japan, and China. French is the recipient of two Overseas Press Club awards and a two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee. He has written for The Atlantic, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine, and Rolling Stone, among other national publications.“Everything Under the Heavens is the most persuasive account I’ve ever read of how China’s history shapes its foreign policy and that of its neighbors today. A subtle and beautifully written book that offers surprising lessons for how Americans and Asians should respond to China’s rise. Strongly recommended for policy makers and citizens alike.” – Susan Shirk, Chair of 21st Century China Center, University of California, San Diego.
The Tennessee World Affairs Council is a nonprofit (501c3), nonpartisan educational charity based in Nashville that works to build understanding of global issues in our communities. Learn more about the Council and find how you can join, donate and volunteer at: www.TNWAC.org —
