Nation-State

How civilisational divides are threatening the independence of small nations

When scholars, policy makers and resistance groups adopt “civilisational” frames, they inadvertently legitimise a world order where might makes right, and cultural or religious claims override legal norms, observes academic Ma Haiyun.

Ma Haiyun

15 Sep 2025

Why do the Chinese behave this way? China's 'middle society' holds the clue

Even as Western academics are translating essays by Chinese academics in a bid to understand China better, Wu Guo says that in the field of cultural psychology, the views of the well-educated "middle society" in China are worth tapping into. Do the trauma of national humiliation and other cultural baggage explain China's rising nationalism and persistent "grand unification strategy"?

Wu Guo

21 Jan 2021

Will Covid-19 be the catastrophe that ends China's good fortune?

China has faced reversals of fortune numerous times in history, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. After enjoying decades of upward ascent since its economic reform and opening up, some says China's fate is about to be reversed again with the coronavirus pandemic, a mammoth disruption that kicked off the 2020s. Lance Gore argues that such massive shock to its political and economic system exposes chinks in its armour but does not necessarily unravel a big country with the world's most comprehensive industrial structure.

Lance Gore

29 Apr 2020

Nations must behave like nations

Zheng Yongnian says every member of Chinese society must act responsibly to see their country through the 2019 Novel Coronavirus epidemic, and it will be a huge tragedy if Chinese people pin their hopes on heroes while society as a whole remains ignorant and incompetent.

Zheng Yongnian

10 Feb 2020