
Pekingology
China has emerged as one of the 21st century’s most consequential nations, making it more important than ever to understand how the country is governed. True to the name Pekingology, or the study of the political behavior of the People’s Republic of China, this podcast aims to unpack the behavior of the Chinese Communist Party and implications these actions have within China and for U.S.-China relations. Jude Blanchette, the Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS, is joined by various experts to analyze the activities of the Chinese governing system and how these impact the complex relationships relating to China.
Latest episodes

Jul 28, 2022 • 37min
Localized Bargaining
In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Xiao Ma, an assistant professor of Political Science at Peking University and faculty associate at Peking University Research Center for Contemporary China, to discuss his recent book, Localized Bargaining: The Political Economy of China’s High-Speed Railway Program.

Jul 14, 2022 • 38min
Terror Capitalism
In this week’s episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Darren Byler, an assistant professor at Simon Fraser University, to discuss two of his recent books, Terror Capitalism: Uyghur Dispossession and Masculinity in a Chinese City, and In the Camps: China's High-Tech Penal Colony.

Jun 30, 2022 • 36min
Rebuilding Authority
In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Jean Christopher Mittelstaedt, departmental lecturer in modern Chinese studies at the University of Oxford, to discuss his recent paper, Rebuilding Authority: The Party's Relationship with Its Grassroots Organizations.

Jun 16, 2022 • 50min
Coalitions of the Weak
In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Victor Shih, associate professor and Ho Miu Lam Chair in China and Pacific Relations at the School of Global Policy and Strategy, UC San Diego. They discuss his new book, Coalitions of the Weak: Elite Politics in China from Mao’s Stratagem to the Rise of Xi.

Jun 2, 2022 • 37min
Factional Model-Making in China
In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Olivia Cheung, Research Fellow at the China Institute at SOAS University of London, to discuss her recent paper, Factional Model-making in China: Party Elites’ Open Political Contention in the Policy Process.

17 snips
May 19, 2022 • 43min
China’s Power Position in Global Ports
In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Isaac B. Kardon, an assistant professor in the Strategic and Operational Research Department at the U.S. Naval War College, to discuss his paper Pier Competitor: China’s Power Position in Global Ports, which is co-authored with Wendy Leutert. The views expressed by the guest are his own and do not necessarily represent those of the Navy or Department of Defense.

16 snips
May 5, 2022 • 40min
Foreign and Security Policymaking in Xi Jinping’s China
In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Suisheng Zhao, Professor and Director of the Center for China-US Cooperation at University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies, to discuss his paper, Top-level Design and Enlarged Diplomacy: Foreign and Security Policymaking in Xi Jinping’s China.

Apr 21, 2022 • 36min
The Rise of Data Politics
In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Lizhi Liu, Assistant Professor in the McDonough School of Business and a faculty affiliate of the Department of Government at Georgetown University, to discuss her recent paper, The Rise of Data Politics: Digital China and the World.

Apr 7, 2022 • 33min
Elite Purges in Marxist-Leninist Regimes
In this week’s episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Joseph Torigian, an assistant professor in the School of International Service at American University, to discuss his paper “You Don't Know Khrushchev Well”: The Ouster of the Soviet Leader as a Challenge to Recent Scholarship on Authoritarian Politics.

Mar 24, 2022 • 40min
Defending Stability Under Threat
In this week’s episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by H. Christoph Steinhardt, assistant professor in the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Vienna, to discuss his paper, Defending Stability under Threat: Sensitive Periods and the Repression of Protest in Urban China.
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