The China Learning Curve
and
Democracy Road
How
America should address two of its most critical foreign policy challenges -
China and the support of democracy around the world
By
Daniel R. Joseph
In the midst of an election for which foreign policy has
played an unusually large role, Daniel R.
Joseph has produced both a book, The
China Learning Curve: Critical Differences and a related
award-winning documentary, Democracy Road, that provides
unique insights into two of America's most critical foreign policy challenges -
how to engage China and how to support democracy while avoiding the failure
we've seen in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.
The China Learning Curve: Understanding the key aspects of
China that should drive policy
China has been front and center in the presidential
campaign and for good reason - from trade to cyber espionage to the South China
Sea there is no shortage of critical issues relative to China. Daniel
tells us that the first step in any good foreign policy is understanding the
counter-party. In The China Learning Curve, Daniel starts by
describing how China is different from us - mostly it's economic structure
(transitioning from communism) and its culture (becoming more liberal).
Daniel then explores how those differences should impact our dealings with
China, from policy to business. Themes that Daniel's analysis address
include the following:
- Why has
China outperformed Russia, India, and all other developing countries and
what does that tell us about what we should expect from China in the
future?
- How is
China likely to react to a more protectionist America?
- How
much of a security and military threat will China become?
Democracy
Road: Exploring culture, the rule of law, and why we struggle to spread democracy
In Democracy
Road, which was recently awarded the prize for Best Documentary Short
at the New York-Los Angeles (NYLA) International Film Festival, builds on the
concept of culture which Daniel addresses in his book. In the film,
Daniel tells us that while Americans across the political spectrum are
passionate about supporting democracy, in the wake of Iraq, Afghanistan, and
the Arab Spring, all of which yielded little in the way of democracy, Americans
are also increasingly leery of nation-building and are skeptical of America's
efforts to support democracy around the world. Focusing particularly on
culture, the rule of law, and the importance of economic development to
democratization, Daniel explains why we have to rethink our approach to dealing
with the developing world and supporting democracy along the way. Themes
that Democracy Road relates to include:
- Why nation-building in
Iraq and Afghanistan didn't work;
- Why the Arab Spring
didn't produce much democracy;
- Why America is having
trouble spreading democracy;
- Why China is actually
more democratic than India; and
- Why our immigration
policy needs to take culture into account.
Below is
a link to a private screening of the documentary (10 minutes long) and also the
website for the documentary which provides additional information about this
theme.
Democracy Road:
Password: demroad1212
About the Author: Daniel R. Joseph is an author, filmmaker, and consultant who helps companies do business internationally and who is passionate about educating people as to how countries really develop and the crucial role played by culture. Currently founder of consulting firm The China Learning Curve, Dan lived in China for more than 10 years and has a very broad business background. Dan has written two books on China.
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