A FOIA request I submitted from March 2020 requesting the diplomatic cable from 1984 that relayed the information that the Chinese had finally agreed "in principle" to hosting a Peace Corps program "without delay", has finally been answered!
This gave me one of those Little Dark Ages America nostalgia moments for a media landscape I wasn’t even alive for.
You’re telling me that in the US, on mainstream television (not C-Span), we used to have sophisticated film discussions between extraordinarily well-watched media experts, who were well-versed enough in socio-cultural matters to have an actually intellectually vibrant discourse?
Just on cable?
Maybe this is why the Soup Nazi was so mean. He and his staff were just annoyed at the all the annoying people who caught wind of his spot, only to enjoy it for a bit and never go back.
I worry that Wembanyama will get caught up in the distractions of New York City, like the Rose Reading Room at the public library or the upcoming conference on participatory futures at The New School
Clinton himself came around to engagement with China in part because he recognized policies of containment were a failure in Cuba. Similarly, with Biden’s foreign policy team coming into office believing in the “engagement has failed” narrative, there was little room for Cuba.
An interesting historical tidbit: We all know Biden famously continued Trump's hawkish attempts to contain China. This was felt as a genuine shock on the Chinese side and destroyed the fantasy that Trump was the abberation.
But even on Cuba, he continued the Trump-era squeeze for the most part. This is despite the fact he was Obama's vice president and also promised a return to Obama-style re-engagement. Not sure if significant. Just wondering...why?
US-China academic exchange has faced real challenges on both sides. But the choice is NOT between naïve engagement and no dialogue (total decoupling).@NeysunM has been a thoughtful leader in practicing constructive dialogue while understanding the risks and constraints.
NOW: Mamdani says his admin will transfer ownership from bad landlords to non-profits.
“For buildings that have suffered chronic neglect, we will work to transfer ownership to responsible stewards.
Stewards that include community land trusts, non-profits, or even the tenants themselves.”
@morris_que14 Taiwan was more of a launching pad for Dutch trade with China and Japan at the time, separate from how Indonesia was colonized in the Dutch East Indies
@AndrewDesiderio How can this race be a bellwether when Platner and the campaign he’s running is so unique and distinct from mainstream Democratic strategy?
I see that modest dip in 2014 and I’m filled with all kinds of nostalgia. It was my second year in China and I was riveted by all the predictions of collapse, hard-landings, and unbridled Chinese aggression that was so sure to follow.
Good times.