Best of 2022: In Conversation
BEST OF 2022:
IN CONVERSATION
6 January 2023
In 2022, 9DASHLINE had the pleasure of speaking with the authors of several insightful books, with topics ranging from the current US-China strategic competition to the history of mountain communities in Nepal.
Here we present some of our most thought-provoking In Conversation interviews of the past year.
WITH DR NICOLA NYMALM — ASSOCIATE SENIOR LECTURER/ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SWEDISH DEFENCE UNIVERSITY, AND ASSOCIATE RESEARCH FELLOW, SWEDISH INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
In this book, Nicola Nymalm shows that the ‘new era’ in US-China relations that scholars and policymakers have been announcing since the beginning of the Trump presidency was long in the making and that it rests on enduring discourses about the United States’ main economic competitor. In our conversation, Nymalm outlines the lessons the United States’ competition with Japan in the 20th century can offer for managing US-China ties today. She also points to the importance of unpacking some conventional wisdom on rising powers by asking questions such as “Why do only some countries end up being labelled ‘rising powers’, but not others?” and “Who perceives whom as threatening, and from what perspective and context?”. As her book’s analysis of the two cases of Japan and China shows, the picture is much more complicated than conventional wisdom assumes.
WITH DR JULIA GUROL — POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER AND LECTURER, ALBERT-LUDWIGS-UNIVERSITAT FREIBURG, AND ASSOCIATE FELLOW AND POLICY ADVISOR, CENTRE FOR APPLIED RESEARCH IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ORIENT (CARPO)
Julia Gurol’s book investigates the complex security relations between the EU and China — one of the world’s most important, yet complicated, security relationships. In our conversation, Gurol explains what drew her to this topic, and what is so important about EU-China relations given the general emphasis on Sino-US strategic competition. After discussing the current state of their security relations in fields as diverse as climate and counter-piracy, the author predicts that the EU’s future stance toward China will be determined by two factors: the development of transatlantic relations and the degree of coherence and unity the EU can reach in its China policy.
WITH JAMES BORTON — SENIOR FELLOW, SCHOOL OF ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FOREIGN POLICY INSTITUTE, JOHN HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
In Dispatches from the South China Sea, James Borton argues that the South China Sea (SCS) can become a body of water that unites, rather than divides. Among others, the author expresses concern over environmental degradation in the SCS and illustrates how regional state and non-state actors can cooperate to protect the environment, as well as achieve more peaceful interstate relations. In our conversation, Borton highlights some similarities and differences between the geopolitical tensions in the South China Sea and the Mekong River, and clarifies the positive role ‘science diplomacy’ can play and how the Antarctica Treaty could be a possible model for the SCS.
WITH AMISH MULMI — INDEPENDENT EDITOR AND WRITER, AND CONSULTING EDITOR, WRITERS’ SIDE LITERARY AGENCY
Amish Mulmi’s book examines the histories binding mountain communities together across the Sino-Nepali border and gives a new, complex, and compelling account of a small country caught between two neighbourhood giants — China and India. Our conversation with the author touches upon the current Nepalese stance on Tibetan autonomous governance and China’s soft power in Nepal. Mulmi explains what role Beijing plays in Nepali politics today and argues that future bilateral political engagement will depend a lot on whether China can respond nimbly to Nepal’s domestic political turbulence and not be seen as taking sides within Nepali politics or influencing day-to-day political affairs. Similarly, the key challenge for Nepal will be to expand upon the current bilateral foundation by ensuring its interests are addressed.
WITH DR RAMON PACHECO PARDO — PROFESSOR, KING'S COLLEGE LONDON, AND KF-VUB KOREA CHAIR, BRUSSELS SCHOOL OF GOVERNANCE, VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSELS
Moving on to Korea, Ramon Pacheco Pardo’s book charts the incredible rise of South Korea, from colonisation and civil war to the thriving nation it is today. In our conversation, Pacheco Pardo explains what the book title’s metaphor of the country’s transformation from a ‘shrimp’ to a ‘whale’ means, and emphasises that South Korea cannot be seen as a ‘shrimp’ anymore. He illustrates how the country managed the transition to a ‘whale’ in a relatively short period, what role soft power played in this regard, and explains what lessons other developing countries might draw from South Korea’s example.
WITH KATIE STALLARD — SENIOR EDITOR, CHINA AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS, NEW STATESMAN MAGAZINE, AND NON-RESIDENT GLOBAL FELLOW, WILSON CENTER
Drawing on first-hand, on-the-ground reporting, Katie Stallard’s fascinating book examines how the leaders of China, Russia, and North Korea manipulate the past to serve the present and secure the future of authoritarian rule. In our conversation, Stallard highlights that while the differences between the ruling regimes and the characteristics of these countries are far greater than their similarities, they all share an understanding of the potency of history, and historical memory, as a political tool to generate regime support. This approach has been particularly evident in Putin’s framing of his invasion of Ukraine for his domestic audience. Stallard also explains whether any attempt to manipulate history is an authoritarian trait or if there is something uniquely different in how authoritarian and democratically elected leaders manipulate history, concluding “The more glorious and heroic the myth, the more we should all be questioning whose interests it really serves”.
WITH ALI WYNE — SENIOR ANALYST, GLOBAL MACRO PRACTICE, EURASIA GROUP
Arriving at a moment of heightened geopolitical contestation, Ali Wyne’s latest book America’s Great Power Opportunity offers an excellent critique of the concept of ‘great power competition’, making it an indispensable contribution to better understanding much of what is taking place in our world today. Wyne describes strategic competition with China and Russia as America’s “great power opportunity”, arguing that the United States will have to “reinvent itself” by renewing its commitment to multiparty democracy and buttressing an international order capable of withstanding the pressures of globalisation in order to succeed. In our conversation, he also explains why the Cold War is not an apt parallel through which to view today’s strategic competition with China and why he rules out the possibility of a global power transition between the United States and China.
WITH DR SALVADOR SANTINO FULO REGILME JR. — ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITEIT LEIDEN
Also focusing on the United States, Salvador Santino Fulo Regilme Jr.’s book explains how US foreign policy affects state repression and physical integrity rights in Southeast Asia and the rest of the Global South. In an innovative argument, he highlights the active political agency of Global South states and actors as they negotiate and charts their political trajectories with the United States. In our conversation with the author, we had the opportunity to learn more about the relationship between US strategic support and improving human rights in Thailand and the Philippines, and what role Regilme expects security to play under the Philippines’ current President Marcos Jr. Regarding the question of whether China might overtake the US as the most powerful state actor in the world — or at least regional — politics in the future, Regilme argues that the United States’ effective vaccine diplomacy has undermined China’s endeavour to be seen as a good development partner for Southeast Asia. Therefore, he expects that countries in the region will continue to publicly appear as ‘hedging’ in the context of the US-China rivalry by relying on the US for long-term security guarantees and China for economic investments.
DISCLAIMER: All views expressed are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent that of the 9DASHLINE.com platform.
Image credit: Unsplash/Susan Q Yin.