Nick Zeller
@nickzeller.bsky.social
China Focus @ The Carter Center | All opinions stolen from smarter people but still don't represent my employer
Empires age like dynamite.
Empires age like dynamite.
What a pleasure to get to know this guy!
Grateful to @nickzeller.bsky.social & @cartercenter.bsky.social for the opportunity to discuss US-China relations, SE Asia & Trump 2.0 at last week’s Emerging Voices for U.S.-China Cooperation workshop in San Francisco. I enjoyed exchanging views with colleagues and making new friends!
September 9, 2025 at 4:22 PM
What a pleasure to get to know this guy!
I'm very pleased with the work we did here. The takeaway is that by many metrics Chinese nationalism is off the charts and likely supportive of actions that could lead to conflict. At the same time, Chinese people are open to cooperation and very positive about multilateral organizations.
As China’s global influence continues to grow, a groundbreaking new Chicago Council-@cartercenter.bsky.social survey provides a rare window into how the Chinese public views the world and China's place in it. Some key takeaways 📊⬇️ brnw.ch/21wVpgL
September 2, 2025 at 8:57 PM
I'm very pleased with the work we did here. The takeaway is that by many metrics Chinese nationalism is off the charts and likely supportive of actions that could lead to conflict. At the same time, Chinese people are open to cooperation and very positive about multilateral organizations.
Reposted by Nick Zeller
No one listening in Washington. Where should we turn?
@nickzeller.bsky.social, writes about the devastation that accompanies the rise and fall of modern empires, including the U.S. and that the road to peace may lie in the survival strategies of smaller countries.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
@nickzeller.bsky.social, writes about the devastation that accompanies the rise and fall of modern empires, including the U.S. and that the road to peace may lie in the survival strategies of smaller countries.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
Empires Age Like Dynamite
The worst is always avoidable, but historical precedent is not on the side of peace
open.substack.com
September 2, 2025 at 1:36 PM
No one listening in Washington. Where should we turn?
@nickzeller.bsky.social, writes about the devastation that accompanies the rise and fall of modern empires, including the U.S. and that the road to peace may lie in the survival strategies of smaller countries.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
@nickzeller.bsky.social, writes about the devastation that accompanies the rise and fall of modern empires, including the U.S. and that the road to peace may lie in the survival strategies of smaller countries.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3!
Join us virtually or in Chicago on Sept. 3 with @global-affairs.bsky.social for a discussion about the results of their latest survey of Chinese public opinion on foreign policy issues.
Register here: bit.ly/3JpzQ9n
Watch virtually: bit.ly/4fTxcFa
Register here: bit.ly/3JpzQ9n
Watch virtually: bit.ly/4fTxcFa
China and the World: How Citizens View Their Country's Global Future
Join us as we discuss the results of the first-ever survey of Chinese public opinion on foreign policy and what these findings mean for US-China relations and China's role in the world.
bit.ly
September 1, 2025 at 4:00 PM
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3!
Reposted by Nick Zeller
A real pleasure doing this interview with Diego Ge, thanks to @nickzeller.bsky.social for making it happen
How should we respond when the US rightly condemns actions in China it wrongly perpetrates itself elsewhere?
Part 1 of 2 of our interview with @elifriedman.bsky.social on what international solidarity means in US-China relations today.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
Part 1 of 2 of our interview with @elifriedman.bsky.social on what international solidarity means in US-China relations today.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
Neither Washington Nor Beijing w/ Eli Friedman (Part 1)
Another internationalism is possible
open.substack.com
August 26, 2025 at 4:18 PM
A real pleasure doing this interview with Diego Ge, thanks to @nickzeller.bsky.social for making it happen
As editor here, @elifriedman.bsky.social has been top of my list to interview. The issues in this interview should be at the core of any and all discussions of U.S.-China relations, and yet they are probably the most difficult to raise.
I highly recommend Eli's work.
I highly recommend Eli's work.
How should we respond when the US rightly condemns actions in China it wrongly perpetrates itself elsewhere?
Part 1 of 2 of our interview with @elifriedman.bsky.social on what international solidarity means in US-China relations today.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
Part 1 of 2 of our interview with @elifriedman.bsky.social on what international solidarity means in US-China relations today.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
Neither Washington Nor Beijing w/ Eli Friedman (Part 1)
Another internationalism is possible
open.substack.com
August 26, 2025 at 10:16 AM
As editor here, @elifriedman.bsky.social has been top of my list to interview. The issues in this interview should be at the core of any and all discussions of U.S.-China relations, and yet they are probably the most difficult to raise.
I highly recommend Eli's work.
I highly recommend Eli's work.
This is going to be a big one. Not many organizations standing who can still do this work.
Join us virtually or in Chicago on Sept. 3 with @global-affairs.bsky.social for a discussion about the results of their latest survey of Chinese public opinion on foreign policy issues.
Register here: bit.ly/3JpzQ9n
Watch virtually: bit.ly/4fTxcFa
Register here: bit.ly/3JpzQ9n
Watch virtually: bit.ly/4fTxcFa
China and the World: How Citizens View Their Country's Global Future
Join us as we discuss the results of the first-ever survey of Chinese public opinion on foreign policy and what these findings mean for US-China relations and China's role in the world.
bit.ly
August 22, 2025 at 6:05 PM
This is going to be a big one. Not many organizations standing who can still do this work.
Very proud of the work we did here and looking forward to sharing it. We'll have a series of reports immediately before this event, and will also be live streaming for those that register.
Join @cartercenter.bsky.social and @global-affairs.bsky.social September 3 in Chicago to discuss the results of our most recent survey of Chinese public opinion on foreign policy issues!
globalaffairs.org/events/china...
globalaffairs.org/events/china...
China and the World: How Citizens View Their Country's Global Future
Join us as we discuss the results of the first-ever survey of Chinese public opinion on foreign policy and what these findings mean for US-China relations and China's role in the world.
globalaffairs.org
August 22, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Very proud of the work we did here and looking forward to sharing it. We'll have a series of reports immediately before this event, and will also be live streaming for those that register.
Reposted by Nick Zeller
Uncertainty in a key pillar of people-to-people diplomacy by Juan Zhang - #China no longer the top source of international students in US. No of #India students surge to 331,602, while Chinese student enrollment dropped by 4.2% to 277,398. open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
U.S.-China Educational Exchange under a Second Trump Administration
Uncertainty in a key pillar of people-to-people diplomacy
open.substack.com
November 26, 2024 at 12:52 PM
Uncertainty in a key pillar of people-to-people diplomacy by Juan Zhang - #China no longer the top source of international students in US. No of #India students surge to 331,602, while Chinese student enrollment dropped by 4.2% to 277,398. open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
Reposted by Nick Zeller
An American Werewolf in London was released 44 years ago today.
www.unemployednegativity.com/2020/10/what...
www.unemployednegativity.com/2020/10/what...
What Do Werewolves Dream of? On An American Werewolf in London
www.unemployednegativity.com
August 21, 2025 at 10:07 AM
An American Werewolf in London was released 44 years ago today.
www.unemployednegativity.com/2020/10/what...
www.unemployednegativity.com/2020/10/what...
Reposted by Nick Zeller
"The deepening partnership between Serbia and China offers a revealing case study of how Beijing capitalizes on a complex blend of historical grievance, economic aspiration, and political vulnerability," writes Stefan Vladisavljev for The Monitor.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
The Cost of Disengagement: How Serbia Became China’s Strategic Win in Europe
As the West looks elsewhere, China quietly builds its strongest European foothold—in a place few expected: Serbia.
open.substack.com
August 21, 2025 at 10:37 AM
"The deepening partnership between Serbia and China offers a revealing case study of how Beijing capitalizes on a complex blend of historical grievance, economic aspiration, and political vulnerability," writes Stefan Vladisavljev for The Monitor.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
Reposted by Nick Zeller
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a gravid tradwife on an all-white bus, being forced to stand by her unfilial brat, forever
August 14, 2025 at 4:46 PM
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a gravid tradwife on an all-white bus, being forced to stand by her unfilial brat, forever
Reposted by Nick Zeller
What are the actual prospects for peaceful unification of mainland China and Taiwan? It's not a popular question in most circles in the West, but understanding China's position is still key to avoiding preventable bad outcomes.
@edisonchen0222.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
@edisonchen0222.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
Assessing Peaceful Unification w/ Xin Qiang
Cross-strait relations are up to Taiwan; Beijing will be flexible until it won't
open.substack.com
August 12, 2025 at 2:21 PM
What are the actual prospects for peaceful unification of mainland China and Taiwan? It's not a popular question in most circles in the West, but understanding China's position is still key to avoiding preventable bad outcomes.
@edisonchen0222.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
@edisonchen0222.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
Reposted by Nick Zeller
"This state behavior is warranted by the world’s now multipolar configuration, where foreign policies challenge bipolar or unipolar dominance."
The US is demonstrably unreliable in its economic and military commitments, yet China is still looked on with suspicion even as its investments are welcomed by many. The result is a pattern of hedging between the US and China by nearly all of Asia's middle powers.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
Quiet Hedging: Indo-Pacific Middle Powers’ Strategic Deterrence
Diversification functions as a form of quiet deterrence
open.substack.com
August 9, 2025 at 2:45 PM
"This state behavior is warranted by the world’s now multipolar configuration, where foreign policies challenge bipolar or unipolar dominance."
Reposted by Nick Zeller
The US is demonstrably unreliable in its economic and military commitments, yet China is still looked on with suspicion even as its investments are welcomed by many. The result is a pattern of hedging between the US and China by nearly all of Asia's middle powers.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
Quiet Hedging: Indo-Pacific Middle Powers’ Strategic Deterrence
Diversification functions as a form of quiet deterrence
open.substack.com
August 9, 2025 at 2:31 PM
The US is demonstrably unreliable in its economic and military commitments, yet China is still looked on with suspicion even as its investments are welcomed by many. The result is a pattern of hedging between the US and China by nearly all of Asia's middle powers.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
I wrote for China Currents about the stakes of imperial decline and ascension, and how the impossibility of changing minds in Washington frees peace advocates to focus their work bringing together those countries hardest hit by US-China rivalry.
Also, some Kant.
www.chinacenter.net/2025/china-c...
Also, some Kant.
www.chinacenter.net/2025/china-c...
Empires Age Like Dynamite | China Research Center
Kant began with impossibility. Critique of Pure Reason opens with the assertion that, for much of its history, Western philosophy was dedicated to answering fundamentally unanswerable questions, to pr...
www.chinacenter.net
August 4, 2025 at 6:04 PM
I wrote for China Currents about the stakes of imperial decline and ascension, and how the impossibility of changing minds in Washington frees peace advocates to focus their work bringing together those countries hardest hit by US-China rivalry.
Also, some Kant.
www.chinacenter.net/2025/china-c...
Also, some Kant.
www.chinacenter.net/2025/china-c...
Hedging is great and we need more of it. Whether the next US administration is Republican or Democratic, the drive to create economic blocs will continue. No economic ties means less incentive to act carefully on security issues. Economies outside US & China can and should still demand cooperation.
July 29, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Hedging is great and we need more of it. Whether the next US administration is Republican or Democratic, the drive to create economic blocs will continue. No economic ties means less incentive to act carefully on security issues. Economies outside US & China can and should still demand cooperation.
Reposted by Nick Zeller
@hmarston.bsky.social at @seasia.csis.org writes about Vietnam's tightrope walk between the US and China. With a closer eye always on its nearest neighbor, hedging still means more than turning to the US for defense and China for profits.
@csis.org
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
@csis.org
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
Vietnam Navigates Global Frictions by Doubling Down on Hedging
Relations with the United States and China are not so neatly cut on purpose
open.substack.com
July 29, 2025 at 11:16 AM
@hmarston.bsky.social at @seasia.csis.org writes about Vietnam's tightrope walk between the US and China. With a closer eye always on its nearest neighbor, hedging still means more than turning to the US for defense and China for profits.
@csis.org
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
@csis.org
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
Reposted by Nick Zeller
@diegoyc.bsky.social writes about the struggle of those living at the China-Myanmar border. Fear of organized crime to the south, demonization of refugees, and strict control over the flow of people, it should be a familiar story to anyone in the West.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
The Southern Great Wall on the China-Myanmar Border
Funding both sides of a civil war and demonizing refugees? Truly, China is a great power.
open.substack.com
July 22, 2025 at 12:57 PM
@diegoyc.bsky.social writes about the struggle of those living at the China-Myanmar border. Fear of organized crime to the south, demonization of refugees, and strict control over the flow of people, it should be a familiar story to anyone in the West.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
Reposted by Nick Zeller
Ryan Hass at @brookings.edu spoke to The Monitor, making the case that negotiations are the only viable option for the U.S. and China.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
Talking It Out w/ Ryan Hass
Obama's NSC China expert makes the case for negotiations
open.substack.com
July 12, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Ryan Hass at @brookings.edu spoke to The Monitor, making the case that negotiations are the only viable option for the U.S. and China.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
Reposted by Nick Zeller
@vivianwu.bsky.social, CEO of @dashengmedia.bsky.social, spoke to us about the limitations of foreign reports in China, the politics of Chinese diasporic media, and the importance of informed, critical, and free journalism.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
A Loud Voice w/ Vivian Wu
Former BBC Hong Kong Bureau Chief and CEO of Dasheng Media discusses press freedom and the complexities of the Chinese diaspora
open.substack.com
July 10, 2025 at 2:53 PM
@vivianwu.bsky.social, CEO of @dashengmedia.bsky.social, spoke to us about the limitations of foreign reports in China, the politics of Chinese diasporic media, and the importance of informed, critical, and free journalism.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
Reposted by Nick Zeller
My 80th anniversary tribute to Vannevar Bush's July 1945 manifesto: No winner can take all in #AI and we must keep it that way.
🙏 @cartercenter.bsky.social
uscnpm.substack.com/p/winners-ca...
🙏 @cartercenter.bsky.social
uscnpm.substack.com/p/winners-ca...
Winners Can't Take All in AI
Competition to dominate the AI race comes at the cost of needed global advancement
uscnpm.substack.com
July 8, 2025 at 11:21 AM
My 80th anniversary tribute to Vannevar Bush's July 1945 manifesto: No winner can take all in #AI and we must keep it that way.
🙏 @cartercenter.bsky.social
uscnpm.substack.com/p/winners-ca...
🙏 @cartercenter.bsky.social
uscnpm.substack.com/p/winners-ca...
Reposted by Nick Zeller
"A winner-take-all approach to AI is, quite plainly, unhumanitarian," writes @meicensun.bsky.social. To win in the current AI competition most likely means losing out on a host of material improvements to human life.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
Winners Can't Take All in AI
Competition to dominate the AI race comes at the cost of needed global advancement
open.substack.com
July 8, 2025 at 1:02 PM
"A winner-take-all approach to AI is, quite plainly, unhumanitarian," writes @meicensun.bsky.social. To win in the current AI competition most likely means losing out on a host of material improvements to human life.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
Reposted by Nick Zeller
Bilateral dialogues between the U.S. and China can collapse over the big questions. But, writes Jesse Marks, bringing in third countries can help set achievable targets remind the great powers that there's more than just their own interests on the line.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
Why Third Parties Matter in the U.S.-China Relationship
It's everyone else's world too.
open.substack.com
July 1, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Bilateral dialogues between the U.S. and China can collapse over the big questions. But, writes Jesse Marks, bringing in third countries can help set achievable targets remind the great powers that there's more than just their own interests on the line.
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...