The Chinese Dream The Rise Of The World S Largest Middle Class And What It Means To You

(2nd Edition: July 6, 2012) In The Chinese Dream, a groundbreaking book about the rising middle class in China, Forbes columnist and China expert Helen Wang challenges us to recognize that some of our fears about China are grossly misplaced. As a result of China's new capitalist paradigm, a burgeoning middle class-calculated to reach 800 million within the next fifteen years-is jumping aboard the consumerism train and riding it for all it's worth-a reality that may provide the answer to America's economic woes. And with China's increasing urbanization and top-down governmental approach, it now faces increasing energy, environmental, and health problems-problems that the U.S. can help solve. Through timely interviews, personal stories, and a historical perspective, China-born Wang takes us into the world of the Chinese entrepreneurial middle class to show how a growing global mindset and the realization of unity in diversity may ultimately provide the way to creating a saner, safer world for all.

Singh analyses the influence of Xi’s 'Chinese Dream' on China’s foreign relations and security postures. Xi Jinping’s rise has led to a paradigm shift in many aspects of China’s domestic and international politics. A key element of this has been the ideological vision shorthanded as the 'Chinese Dream', combining elements of nationalism, Confucian ideology, and economic expansionism. Singh evaluates the various changes in China’s nominally communist ideology in the post-Mao era, with an emphasis on the implications for China’s economic and security relations with other countries. He particularly focusses on China’s approach to South Asia and the Indian Ocean Region, key elements of China’s strategy. An insightful guide to understanding the direction of China’s foreign and security policy, and especially its impact on India–China relations.

Promoting China's cultural soft power by disseminating modern Chinese values is one of the policies of President Xi Jinping. Although, it is usually understood as a top-down initiative, implemented willingly or unwillingly by writers, filmmakers, artists, and so on, and often manifesting itself in clumsy and awkward ways, for example, the concept of "the Chinese dream," intended to rival and perhaps appeal more strongly than "the American dream," modern Chinese values are in fact put forward in many ways by many different cultural actors. Through analyses of film festivals, CCTV, Confucius Institutes, auteurs, blockbusters, reality TV, and online digital cultures, this book exposes the limitations of China's officially promoted soft power in both conception and practice, and proposes a pluralistic approach to understanding Chinese soft power in local, regional, and transnational contexts. As such, the book demonstrates the limitations of existing theories of soft power, and argues that the US-derived concept of soft power can benefit from being examined from a China perspective.

As China rises as an economic and an international power, new relationships are being forged with all areas of the world including Central and Eastern Europe. This book explores how this relationship is developing. It considers how China’s links with Central and Eastern Europe fit in to China’s overall international relations strategies. It looks at economic and trade ties, diplomatic initiatives and the role of the European Union, and examines China’s bilateral relations with the different states of the region. These relationships are particularly interesting because before the end of communism in Eastern Europe China had many direct links with the countries of the region.

With the theme “China Dreams: Opportunities and Challenges,” this book contributes to emerging debates on Chinese new leadership's adaptability to important political, economic, social, and global issues. Can China's political system sustain “China Dreams”, a slogan ushered by Chinese President Xi Jinpin? Does the fulfillment of “China Dreams” require political reform? Does the initiation of the agenda of “China Dreams” facilitate China's economic transition? To what extent does “China Dreams” pave the way for China's peaceful rise? By exploring the preceding questions, the essays by Lowell Dittmer, Thomas Gold, Victoria Tin-bor Hui, Chin-fu Hung, Scott L Kastner, Huey-Lin Lee & Scott Y Lin, Chih-shian Liou, Raviprasad Narayanan, Kellee S Tsai, and Chung-min Tsai provide a comprehensive analysis of the agenda of China's new leadership. Contents:China Dreams and China's Global Roles:The China Dream: Revival of What Historical Greatness? (Victoria Tin-bor Hui)China's Dream, China's World (Lowell Dittmer)Dreams or Reality? A Preliminary Exploration of the Relationship between China's Growing Economic Power and Its Political Influence in Developed Countries (Scott L Kastner)China Dreams and China's Political Systems:Streamlining the Leviathan: The China Dream and Super-Ministry Reform (Chih-shian Liou)The "China Dream" in the Xi–Li Administration in the Information Age: Shared Dreams or Same Bed, Different Dreams? (Chin-fu Hung)"China Dreams": Political Slogan or Flight of Fancy? (Raviprasad Narayanan)China Dreams and China's Economic Transitions:The China Dream: Tigers, Flies, and Other Challenges to Economic Reform (Kellee S Tsai)Market Development and the China Dream: State–Business Relationship and Regulatory Capacity in China (Chung-min Tsai)Microfinance and the China Dream (Thomas B Gold)Weighing up Market Mechanism and Regulated Distribution: A China Dream to Feed Itself under Spatially Imbalanced Development (Huey-Lin Lee and Scott Y Lin) Readership: Academics, professionals, undergraduate and graduate students interested in China's political system, China's new leadership and agenda of “China Dreams”. Key Features:A timely and comprehensive treatment of the issues associated with “China Dreams”In-depth analyses by leading scholars in China StudiesKeywords:The China Dream;Xi Jinpin;Chinese Leadership;Chinese Communist Party;ChinaReviews: "In this timely and pioneering publication, the authors asked the questions of where China wants to go and where it is actually going. While Mr Xi Jinping's 'China Dreams' suggested an all-encompassing China agenda, the imagination, interpretation and realization of the Dreams have been far more dynamic and not necessarily coherent. This well-edited volume covers key areas of China's political, economic and social development under Xi's leadership. The collection stands out in its balanced treatment of both the state and grassroots actors, and both the shared and separate dreams. It also makes a great contribution to the literature on Global China, as much of the 'China Dreams' is inevitably connected with the dreams of other peoples and countries." You-tien Hsing Professor of Geography Pamela P Fong and Family Distinguished Chair in China Studies Chair of Center for Chinese Studies University of California at Berkeley "Written by leading scholars of Chinese politics, economics, history, and society, this volume is one of the first to analyze Chinese leader Xi Jinping's notion of 'China Dreams'; Exploring both the content and likely impact of Xi's 'China Dreams', the authors paint a multifaceted picture of China's historical development, current status, and future trajectory — both domestically and internationally. Their findings suggest that China's leaders face substantial challenges, and that the realization of Xi's 'Dreams' may not be smooth. Some groups and vested interests appear determined to resist or redirect Xi's 'Dreams'. And there are signs that conflict and tension may accelerate, not only between the Chinese party-state and its people, but also within the party-state, and between China and other countries. For readers seeking a wide range of perspectives on China's rise, this volume provides much food for thought." Teresa Wright Chair and Professor of Political Science, California State University

Faked in China is a critical account of the cultural challenge faced by China following its accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001. It traces the interactions between nation branding and counterfeit culture, two manifestations of the globalizing Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) regime that give rise to competing visions for the nation. Nation branding is a state-sanctioned policy, captured by the slogan "From Made in China to Created in China," which aims to transform China from a manufacturer of foreign goods into a nation that creates its own IPR-eligible brands. Counterfeit culture is the transnational making, selling, and buying of unauthorized products. This cultural dilemma of the postsocialist state demonstrates the unequal relations of power that persist in contemporary globalization.

As scholars and publics look for alternatives to what is understood as a violent Western world order, many claim that China can provide such an alternative through the Chinese dream of a harmonious world. This book takes this claim seriously and examines its effects by tracing the notion across several contexts: the policy documents and speeches that launched harmony as an official term under previous president Hu Jintao; the academic literatures that asked what a harmonious world might look like; the propaganda and mega events that aimed to illustrate it; the online spoofing culture that is used to criticise and avoid "harmonization"; and the incorporation of harmony into current president Xi Jinping’s "Chinese dream". This book finds contemporary Chinese society and international relations saturated with harmony. Yet, rather than offering an alternative to problems in "Western" thought, it counter-intuitively argues that harmony has not taken place, is not taking place, and will not take place. The argument unfolds as a contribution to wider debates on time, space and multiplicity in world politics. Offering analysis of the important but understudied concept of harmony, Nordin provides new and creative insights into wider contemporary issues in Chinese politics, society and scholarship. The book also suggests a creative and novel methodology for studying foreign policy concepts more broadly, drawing on critical thinkers in innovative ways and in a new empirical context. It will be of interest to students and scholars of IR, Chinese foreign and security policy and IR theory.

The SAGE Handbook of Propaganda unpacks the ever-present and exciting topic of propaganda to explain how it invades the human psyche, in what ways it does so, and in what contexts. As a beguiling tool of political persuasion in times of war, peace, and uncertainty, propaganda incites people to take, often violent, action, consciously or unconsciously. This pervasive influence is particularly prevalent in world politics and international relations today. In this interdisciplinary Handbook, the editors have gathered together a group of world-class scholars from Europe, America, Asia, and the Middle East, to discuss leadership propaganda, war propaganda, propaganda for peace marketing, propaganda as a psychological tool, terror-enhanced propaganda, and the contemporary topics of internet-mediated propaganda. Unlike previous publications on the subject, this book brings to the forefront current manifestations and processes of propaganda such as Islamist, and Far Right propaganda, from interdisciplinary perspectives. In its four parts, the Handbook offers researchers and academics of propaganda studies, peace and conflict studies, media and communication studies, political science and governance marketing, as well as intelligence and law enforcement communities, a comprehensive overview of the tools and context of the development and evolution of propaganda from the twentieth century to the present: Part One: Concepts, Precepts and Techniques in Propaganda Research Part Two: Methodological Approaches in Propaganda Research Part Three: Tools and Techniques in Counter-Propaganda Research Part Four: Propaganda in Context