Networked Global Authoritarianism, The Davos Crowd, and the “China Question” (WHITHER 2VR?)

Publisher’s Note: We’ve traveled all over the People’s Republic of China this past decade, on recruiting and research trips with New England colleges and universities. #PlanetChina, as we like to call it, is a unique and fascinating country, a 5,000 year-old Empire once again on the rise. While US neoliberal globalist policymakers and media outlets routinely flog Russia, China is quietly making big geopolitical moves that are challenging US imperial hegemony around the world – in Africa, the Middle East, and Eurasia. We’ve noticed an increasing number of Chinese visitors here in the Green Mountains, and our liberal arts colleges like Saint Michael’s and University of Vermont are hosting an increasing number of Chinese students. There is little doubt that US/China geopolitical relations will continue to heat up over the next several years, and our contention is that US and Chinese elites have more in common with one another than either may have with their respective national populations – “old100names,” as the Chinese refer to China’s commoners, and “the deplorables” here in the US – increasing numbers of Americans being left behind by the vagaries of neoliberal globalization. Here are two provocative interviews that crack open conversations about the US/China situation. We urge you to check your political proclivities at the door and listen hard. OUR question – whither Vermont is this emerging 21st century geopolitical situation? Bless our 2VR!