Foreign Affairs Editor Daniel Kurtz-Phelan on Shifting Views of China

This week on Sinica, I chat with Daniel Kurtz-Phelan, editor of Foreign Affairs, about how the journal has both shaped and reflected American discourse on China during a period of dramatic shifts in the relationship. We discuss his deliberate editorial choices to include heterodox voices, the changing nature of the supposed "consensus" on China policy, and what I've called the "vibe shift" in how Americans across the political spectrum think about China. Daniel also reflects on his own intellectual formation, including his work on George Marshall's failed mission to mediate China's Civil War and the cautionary lessons that history holds for today's debates. We explore the challenges of bringing Chinese voices into Foreign Affairs, the balance between driving and reflecting policy debates, and whether we're witnessing a genuine opening of the Overton window on China discussions.

7:15 – Foreign Affairs in the era of Iraq and "China's peaceful rise"

12:09 – The Marshall mission and the "Who Lost China?" debate

17:17 – China's changing role and the journal's coverage density

19:43 – The Campbell-Ratner "China Reckoning" and subsequent debates

25:00 – The challenge of including authentic Chinese voices

29:42 – How Chinese leadership perceives and reads Foreign Affairs

32:12 – The "vibe shift" on China across the American political spectrum

35:56 – Cultivating contrarian voices: Van Jackson, Jonathan Czin, and David Kang

40:17 – Avoiding the trap of making everything about U.S.-China competition

43:12 – Diversifying perspectives beyond the Washington-Beijing binary

48:18 – The big questions: American exceptionalism and Chinese identity in a new era

51:42 – The dangers of cutting off U.S.-China scholarly conversations

56:26 – The uses and misuses of historical analogies

58:09 – Spain's Golden Age and late Qing memes as contemporary analogies

Paying it forward: The unsung editorial staff at Foreign Affairs

Recommendations:

Daniel: Equator.org; The Rise of the Meritocracy by Michael Young; Granta's new India issue; The Party's Interests Come First by Joseph Torigian; The Coming Storm by Odd Arne Westad

Kaiser: The Spoils of Time by C.V. Wedgwood

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