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Andrew J. Nathan

Bio: Andrew J. Nathan is an academic researcher from Columbia University. The author has contributed to research in topics: China & Human rights. The author has an hindex of 28, co-authored 119 publications receiving 2672 citations.


Papers
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Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: For instance, this article argued that the current Chinese elite conflict is not a discussion within a basically consensual Politburo among shifting "opinion groups" with no "organized force" behind them, but a bureaucratic decision-making process dominated by Mao.
Abstract: Until the Cultural Revolution, the predominant western view of contemporary Chinese elite conflict was that it consisted of “discussion” (t'ao-lun) within a basically consensual Politburo among shifting “opinion groups” with no “organized force” behind them. The purges and accusations which began in 1965 and apparently still continue, have shaken this interpretation, and a number of scholars have advanced new analyses - sometimes explicit, sometimes implicit, sometimes of general application, sometimes applied only to a particular time span or segment of the political system. Of these new views, perhaps the most systematic - and at the same time the one which represents the least change from the pre-Cultural Revolution “opinion group” model - is the “policy making under Mao” interpretation, which sees conflict as essentially a bureaucratic decision-making process dominated by Mao.

213 citations

Book
01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: Nathan and Ross as discussed by the authors examine China's foreign policy as a search for security with motives similar to those of other states, and they argue that this understanding should help Western policy makers accommodate China when they should, persuade China if they can, and resist China whenever they must.
Abstract: In June 1997 Britain's imperial presence in the Far East will come to an end when Hong Kong reverts to China. China's relations with the West, already strained by differences over human rights, trade policy and arms control issues, will be put to the test. This book examines China's foreign policy, exploring her motives and her search for national security. The authors of this study expect the outcome of this change to depend as much upon the West as on China. They argue that Western leaders are blind to a consistent pattern in China's foreign relations: the pursuit of national interest. Crowded on all sides by powerful rivals and potential foes, China's most pressing security problems are at and within its borders. Nathan and Ross examine China's foreign policy as a search for security with motives similar to those of other states. They assert that to understand what motivates Chinese foreign policy is not to counsel concessions to their demands. Instead, they advise that this understanding should help Western policy makers accommodate China when they should, persuade China when they can, and resist China when they must.

196 citations

Journal Article

121 citations


Cited by
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Posted Content
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors proposed a system to locate, download, and analyze the content of millions of social media posts originating from nearly 1,400 different social media services all over China before the Chinese government is able to find, evaluate, and censor the large subset they deem objectionable.
Abstract: We offer the first large scale, multiple source analysis of the outcome of what may be the most extensive effort to selectively censor human expression ever implemented. To do this, we have devised a system to locate, download, and analyze the content of millions of social media posts originating from nearly 1,400 different social media services all over China before the Chinese government is able to find, evaluate, and censor (i.e., remove from the Internet) the large subset they deem objectionable. Using modern computer-assisted text analytic methods that we adapt and validate in the Chinese language, we compare the substantive content of posts censored to those not censored over time in each of 95 issue areas. Contrary to previous understandings, posts with negative, even vitriolic, criticism of the state, its leaders, and its policies are not more likely to be censored. Instead, we show that the censorship program is aimed at curtailing collection action by silencing comments that represent, reinforce, or spur social mobilization, regardless of content. Censorship is oriented toward attempting to forestall collective activities that are occurring now or may occur in the future --- and, as such, seem to clearly expose government intent, such as examples we offer where sharp increases in censorship presage government action outside the Internet.

1,228 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Wang et al. as discussed by the authors proposed a system to locate, download, and analyze the content of millions of social media posts originating from nearly 1,400 different social media services all over China before the Chinese government is able to find, evaluate, and censor the subset they deem objectionable.
Abstract: We offer the first large scale, multiple source analysis of the outcome of what may be the most extensive effort to selectively censor human expression ever implemented. To do this, we have devised a system to locate, download, and analyze the content of millions of social media posts originating from nearly 1,400 different social media services all over China before the Chinese government is able to find, evaluate, and censor (i.e., remove from the Internet) the subset they deem objectionable. Using modern computer-assisted text analytic methods that we adapt to and validate in the Chinese language, we compare the substantive content of posts censored to those not censored over time in each of 85 topic areas. Contrary to previous understandings, posts with negative, even vitriolic, criticism of the state, its leaders, and its policies are not more likely to be censored. Instead, we show that the censorship program is aimed at curtailing collective action by silencing comments that represent, reinforce, or spur social mobilization, regardless of content. Censorship is oriented toward attempting to forestall collective activities that are occurring now or may occur in the future—and, as such, seem to clearly expose government intent.

1,152 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that although realism's concepts of anarchy, self-help, and power balancing may have been appropriate to a bygone era, they have been displaced by changed conditions and eclipsed by better ideas.
Abstract: Some students of international politics believe that realism is obsolete.1 They argue that, although realism’s concepts of anarchy, self-help, and power balancing may have been appropriate to a bygone era, they have been displaced by changed conditions and eclipsed by better ideas. New times call for new thinking. Changing conditions require revised theories or entirely different ones. True, if the conditions that a theory contemplated have changed, the theory no longer applies. But what sorts of changes would alter the international political system so profoundly that old ways of thinking would no longer be relevant? Changes of the system would do it; changes in the system would not. Within-system changes take place all the time, some important, some not. Big changes in the means of transportation, communication, and war Žghting, for example, strongly affect how states and other agents interact. Such changes occur at the unit level. In modern history, or perhaps in all of history, the introduction of nuclear weaponry was the greatest of such changes. Yet in the nuclear era, international politics remains a self-help arena. Nuclear weapons decisively change how some states provide for their own and possibly for others’ security; but nuclear weapons have not altered the anarchic structure of the international political system. Changes in the structure of the system are distinct from changes at the unit level. Thus, changes in polarity also affect how states provide for their security. SigniŽcant changes take place when the number of great powers reduces to two or one. With more than two, states rely for their security both on their

1,116 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a coherent perspective on the complex nutritional, economic, social and political issues involved in the causation of hunger and deprivation, and provide an integrated view of the role of public action in eliminating hunger.
Abstract: This study was well-received and widely discussed when it appeared in hardback in 1990. It is devoted to analysis of the enduring problem of hunger in the modern world, and of the role that public action can play in countering it. The book is divided into four parts. The first attempts to provide a coherent perspective on the complex nutritional, economic, social and political issues involved in the causation of hunger and deprivation. The second deals with famine prevention, paying special attention to Africa and India. The third focuses on chronic undernourishment and related deprivations. Parts two and three include a number of case studies of successful public action for the prevention of hunger and famines in various parts of the world. The fourth part of the book draws together the main themes and concerns of the earlier chapters, and provides an integrated view of the role of public action in eliminating hunger.

922 citations

Book
13 Feb 2006
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss rightful resistance and boundary-spanning claims in the context of China-US relations, and their implications for China's economic and political future.
Abstract: 1. Rightful resistance 2. Opportunities and perceptions 3. Boundary-spanning claims 4. Tactical escalation 5. Outcomes 6. Implications for China.

886 citations