In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by M. Taylor Fravel, Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science and Director of the Security Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They discuss Dr. Fravel's recent Foreign Affairs article, "Is China’s Military Ready for War? What Xi’s Purges Do—and Don’t—Mean for Beijing’s Ambitions." The conversation unpacks corruption, modernization, and sudden disappearances at the highest levels of the People's Liberation Army.
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The Locknet: How China Controls its Internet
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Jessica Batke, Senior Editor for Investigations at ChinaFile, and Laura Edelson, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Northeastern University. They discuss Jessica and Laura's new report "The Locknet: How China Controls Its Internet and Why It Matters," exploring how the government and internet platforms collaborate on censorship, how tensions between the CCP's political and economic goals play out online, and how Chinese censorship is changing the internet outside China.
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History, Memory, and the Party
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Dr. Rana Mitter, ST Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School. Henrietta and Rana discuss the relationship between history and politics in today’s China, how memory of the Second World War shapes Beijing’s thinking on Taiwan, the worldview of the next generation of CCP leaders, and more.
To learn more about Rana Mitter’s perspectives on China, you can read his recent Foreign Affairs article, "The Once and Future China: How Will Change Come to Beijing?" as well as his most recent book, China’s Good War: How World War II Is Shaping a New Nationalism.
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Kurt Campbell on China Strategy and Diplomacy
In this episode of Pekingology, Henrietta Levin, Senior Fellow with the CSIS Freeman Chair in China Studies, is joined by Kurt Campbell, former Deputy Secretary of State and President Biden’s “Asia Czar.” He is currently Chairman of The Asia Group and Distinguished Fellow in Diplomacy with the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. Henrietta and Kurt discuss how Beijing views American power, the development of U.S. strategy towards China, U.S.-China diplomacy and the characters that sat on the Chinese side of the table, and more.
To learn more about Kurt Campbell’s perspectives on China, you can read his April 2025 Foreign Affairs article, co-authored with Rush Doshi, Underestimating China: Why America Needs a New Strategy of Allied Scale to Offset Beijing’s Enduring Advantages, and his 2016 book, The Pivot: The Future of American Statecraft in Asia.
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New Episodes of Pekingology Coming Soon
Pekingology is back with all-new conversations hosted by Henrietta Levin, Senior Fellow with the Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS. Tune in on July 10th for our next episode featuring Dr. Kurt Campbell, former deputy secretary of state and President Biden’s “Asia Czar.”
China is one of the 21st century’s most consequential nations, and it has never been more important to understand how the country is governed. Pekingology is the podcast that unpacks Chinese politics, the inner workings of the Communist Party, and how China's domestic and foreign policy will impact the world. Pekingology is hosted by Henrietta Levin, Senior Fellow with the Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS. It is produced by Gina Kim.
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