Volume 15, Issue 1: Spring 2020

Table of Contents and Letter from the Editor (PDF)

By Veronica Baker

The “Value” of Propaganda: Predicting Political Crackdown in China Based on Text Data (PDF)

By Julian TszKin Chan and Weifeng Zhong

Economic policy experts Julian TszKin Chan and Weifeng Zhong develop a new policy index to predict the probability of future political crackdowns in China based on textual analysis of The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party.

Evaluating Russia’s Pivot to Asia (PDF)

By Ryan Nabil

Ryan Nabil, Yale Jackson graduate student, evaluates the extent to which Russia’s pivot to Asia has been successful, and what it means for American policymakers.

Book Review: The Shanghai Free Taxi and Long Peace Street (PDF)

By Rana Mitter

Rana Mitter, the Director of the Oxford China Centre, reviews Frank Langfitt’s The Shanghai Free Taxi: Journeys with the Hustlers and Rebels of the New China and Jonathan Chatwin’s Long Peace Street: A walk in modern China.

Op-Ed: Why Peace Corps Should Stay in China (PDF)

By Krista Mangiardi

Krista Mangiardi, Yale Jackson graduate student and former Peace Corps volunteer, argues that the United States should not disband the Peace Corps program in China.

Investment Screening for Developing Asia (PDF)

By Aaron Baum

Georgetown student Aaron Baum recommends that ASEAN member states create new investment screening mechanisms for foreign investment.

Op-Ed: Countering China’s Maritime Threat Will Require a Larger U.S. Submarine Force (PDF)

By Pat Wiedorn

Pat Wiedorn, Yale Jackson graduate student and former U.S. Navy submarine officer, explains why the United States must invest in its submarine force to counter China’s maritime threat.

Photo Essay: Outsourced Lives in South Korea (PDF)

By Tae Yeon

In this thought-provoking photo essay, Tae Yeon portrays a nascent South Korean labor movement calling attention to the precarious lives of  “irregular workers” in Seoul.

Op-Ed: The Coming Crisis in Syria’s Prisons (PDF)

By Karim Khalifeh and Karam Alhamad

Karim Khalifeh and Karam Alhamad argue that the international community must pressure the Assad regime to release Syrian political prisoners in the context of COVID-19.

Cult of the Cyber Offensive: Misperceptions of the Cyber Offense/Defense Balance (PDF)

By Charles Smythe

Charles Smythe of the Georgetown School of Foreign Service argues that offensive strategies do not have an advantage over defensive strategies in cyberspace.

Interview: “At All Costs”: Former U.N. Syria Envoy Staffan de Mistura Recounts Unrelenting Efforts Towards Peace (PDF)

By Matthew Trevithick

Yale Jackson graduate student and author Matthew Trevithick interviews Staffan de Mistura, the former UN Special Envoy for Syria, about successes and failures of the United Nations in Syria.

Op-Ed: Bit by Byte: Rebooting America’s Colombia Policy (PDF)

By Eliot Pence

Defense and technology policy expert Eliot Pence argues that the United States should help the Colombian government acquire and develop new technologies to solve critical policy challenges.

A Social (Media) Contract: Reconciling American Freedom and Security in an Age of Online Radicalization and Extremism (PDF)

By Tony Formica

Tony Formica, Yale Jackson graduate student and U.S. Army Downing Scholar, offers policy recommendations to counter the threat that online extremism and radicalization pose to American national security.