“THE CHINA NIGHTMARE: THE GRAND AMBITIONS OF A DECAYING STATE”

The San Diego World Affairs Council warmly welcomes

DAN BLUMENTHAL, J.D. 

Director of Asian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI)

For the Presentation

Thursday, 14^th January 2021 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. (PST) 

Contrary to an emerging bipartisan and global consensus, China is not the global superpower Xi Jinping’s government would have the world believe. Indeed, a still powerful China is in “decay” and beset by internal and geopolitical challenges that will frustrate the nation’s grand ambitions. It is not just China’s strengths that the next US President will have to cope with, but rather the country's weaknesses as well. For the past several months the world has seen the weaknesses and failures of China’s government on full display when a local epidemic turned into a pandemic because of mismanagement and coverups. 

As The China Nightmare makes clear, Xi Jinping’s overambitious vision for China’s future, increased emphasis on crackdowns and human rights abuses in China and Hong Kong, and rejection of any meaningful market reforms like those once championed by previous Chinese leaders, will ultimately lead to a cascade of dire consequences both for the Chinese Communist Party and for those that have the misfortune of being in its orbit. 

About the Author: Dan Blumenthal is the director of Asian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on East Asian security issues and Sino-American relations. He served in and advised the US government on China issues for over a decade. From 2002-04, he served as senior director for China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mongolia at the Department of Defense. Additionally, he served as a commissioner on the congressionally-mandated US-China Economic and Security Review Commission from 2006-12 and held the position of vice-chairman in 2007. He has also served on the Academic Advisory Board of the congressional US-China Working Group. 

 Mr. Blumenthal has a JD from Duke Law School, an MA from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and a BA from Washington University in St. Louis. He also attended Capital Normal University in Beijing, China, where he focused on Chinese language studies.