Salvatore Babones (@sbabones) is an American sociologist at the University of Sydney. His research takes a long-term approach to interpreting the structure of the global economy, with a particular focus on China. He can be reached at: s@salvatorebabones.com.
Interview — Is the United States the “Tianxia” of the 21st century?
Originally published at: https://www.voachinese.com/a/american-tianxia-21-century-201 ...The twenty-first century may be the century of the Chinese people, but of the Chinese people living in America. READ MORE
American Tianxia: The Chinese term for American power
Originally published at: https://policypress.wordpress.com/2017/07/19/american-tianxi ...I first heard of the term “tianxia” at the end of 2015. I had spent several months working in the Wang Gungwu Library at the Chinese Heritage Centre (CHC) at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Prof. Wang Gungwu didn’t donate the money for the library. He donated the books. READ MORE
American Tianxia: A Chinese term for American power
Originally published at: http://ippreview.com/index.php/Blog/single/id/500.html ...Many of the peoples of historical East Asia probably resented Chinese supremacy. Nonetheless they understood that China was the central state that guaranteed the stability of “all under heaven.” Today that central state is the United States, and the harmonious order of “all under heaven” in the twenty-first century is the American Tianxia. READ MORE
American Tianxia: The United States as the new “Middle Kingdom”
Originally published at: http://asianreviewofbooks.com/content/american-tianxia-the-u ...Only a state founded on the primacy of the individual and ideologically committed to freedom of opportunity for all individuals could succeed as the central state of a truly global world-system. READ MORE
American Tianxia: When Chinese philosophy meets American power
Originally published at: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2017-06-22/american- ...The last time a whole world was so organized around a single, central state was in the fifteenth century, when East Asia was centered on Ming-dynasty China. China at the time wasn’t just the leader or regional hegemon; it was the central state of a political and cultural realm that stretched from Burma to Japan. READ MORE
Interview — The politics of inequality
Originally published at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/democraciaabierta/salvatore-ba ...People are proposing many creative approaches to reducing inequality, but I don’t see any reason to be creative when reliable, well-tested policies are available off the shelf. To reduce inequality, governments should collect taxes using strongly progressive income tax systems and governments should provide services universally on an equal basis to all citizens. READ MORE
As European nervousness over Trump demonstrates, the United States is more than ever the hub of the European regional security system. Perhaps it’s time for the United States to find some new spokes? READ MORE
Book review — Chinese Hegemony by Feng Zhang
Originally published at: http://asianreviewofbooks.com/content/chinese-hegemony-grand ...“It is a common rule of propriety that culturally inferior foreign peoples should respect the Central Kingdom.” So begins a 1374 letter from Ming China’s founding Hongwu Emperor to a regional ruler in Japan. It continues: “One principle in both ancient and modern times has been for the small to serve the great.” READ MORE
- This is ... a very strange story. https://t.co/XL1waSVlMW
- If the 21st century is the Chinese century, it will be the century of the Chinese people living in North America - https://t.co/A9b5EhjH5V
