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Minxin Pei

Minxin Pei

Writing for PS since 2006
100 commentaries
3 videos & podcasts

Minxin Pei, Professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College, is the author, most recently, of The Sentinel State: Surveillance and the Survival of Dictatorship in China (Harvard University Press, 2024).

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  1. The Tragedy of Zhou Enlai
    op_pei3_Hulton-Deutsch CollectionCORBISCorbis via Getty Images_zhouenlai Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty Images

    The Tragedy of Zhou Enlai

    Jan 31, 2025 Minxin Pei reflects on the complicated life and legacy of the renowned diplomat who was Mao Zedong’s dutiful lieutenant.

  2. Minxin Pei on China’s economy, surveillance state, repression of dissent, and more
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    Minxin Pei on China’s economy, surveillance state, repression of dissent, and more

    Apr 16, 2024 Minxin Pei doubts China’s government is willing to do what is needed to restore growth, describes the low-tech approaches taken by the country’s vast security apparatus, considers the Chinese social-credit system’s repressive potential, and more.

  3. China’s Pro-Growth Happy Talk
    pei94_ NOEL CELISAFP via Getty Images_xi economy NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images

    China’s Pro-Growth Happy Talk

    Jan 24, 2023 Minxin Pei doubts that the government will do what it takes to engineer the robust economic recovery it has been touting.

  4. A Diplomatic Winter?
    YA2023_predictions_getty images Getty Images

    A Diplomatic Winter?

    Dec 12, 2022 Oscar Arias, et al. consider what the events of 2022 say about the future of peacemaking and diplomacy.

  5. China’s Zero-COVID Muddle
    pei93_Kevin FrayerGetty Images_zero covid protest Kevin FrayerGetty Images

    China’s Zero-COVID Muddle

    Dec 7, 2022 Minxin Pei warns that the government’s refusal to devise a comprehensive and systematic exit strategy could create the worst of two worlds.

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  1. wmoore1_Sofiia PetrovaGetty Images_babyvitamins Sofiia Petrova/Getty Images

    Philanthropy in an Era of Declining Development Aid

    William Moore urges practitioners and policymakers to focus on already proven, scalable solutions.
  2. adebajo14_Bill PuglianoGettyImages_trump_wrestlemania Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

    South Africa’s Wrestling Match With Trump

    Adekeye Adebajo considers whether the current G20 president can still advance its agenda in the face of US obstruction.
  3. haldar44_ Ann Ronan PicturesPrint CollectorGetty Images_aristotle Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images

    How Aristotle Can Save Us

    Antara Haldar touts a conception of society in which politics and education cultivate the virtue of its members.
  4. laidi35_Pacific PressGettyImages_kaja_kallas_un Pacific Press/Getty Images

    Trump vs. Europe

    Zaki Laïdi warns that the European Union has no place in Donald Trump’s illiberal worldview.
  5. haass178_Alex KentGetty Images)_zelenskytrump Alex Kent/Getty Images

    Diplomacy Is the Newest Front in the Russia-Ukraine War

    Richard Haass explains why an enforceable ceasefire must precede, perhaps by many years, final-status negotiations.
  6. subacchi47_Ravi ChipGettyImages_us_treasury_dept Ravi Chip/Getty Images

    Will the World Keep Buying US Treasuries?

    Paola Subacchi & Paul van den Noord foresee a gradual reduction in countries’ holdings of dollar-denominated debt, not a rapid sell-off.
  7. yi20_CFOTOGettyImages_group_wedding_china CFOTO/Getty Images

    Why China’s Marriage Crisis Matters

    Yi Fuxian examines the factors underlying a key cause of the country’s demographic crisis.
  8. gebert4_AFP via Getty Images_gazaprotest AFP via Getty Images

    Israel Must Not Ignore the Anti-Hamas Protests in Gaza

    Konstanty Gebert

    Recent demonstrations in Gaza have pushed not only for an end to the war, but also for an end to Hamas's rule, thus echoing Israel's own stated objectives. Yet the Israeli government, consumed by its own internal politics, has barely acknowledged this unprecedentedly positive development.

    underscores the unprecedented nature of recent demonstrations in the war-ravaged enclave.
  9. james229_Anna MoneymakerGetty Images_elonmuskmaga Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

    Donald Trump Is a Globalist

    Harold James shows that the MAGA movement is actually an unalloyed version of the idea that its leader claims to reject.

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