Putting China At Ease

Originally published in The Boston Globe

August 23, 2012

Edward Glaeser (Glimp Professor of Economics, Harvard University)

As thousands of Chinese demonstrators air their anger about Japanese control of the barren Diaoyu Islands, the potential for a bloody cataclysm increases. From Argentina’s seizure of the Falklands to German moves into Alsace-Lorraine, history has seen too many wars that began when societies respond to their internal tensions by making senseless grabs for land. China is changing, too. And if its one-party regime lurches towards either democracy or populist dictatorship, the dangers of militant nationalism will only grow. Boston Globe subscription needed for full article

print |