China Power-- CSIS

[Deborah Johnston]

China Power is a web project undertaken by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. https://chinapower.csis.org/  The website is of particular interest to me since it provides a non-partisan perspective using data points and analysis on the Chinese role in the world, both on Chinese foreign and domestic policy.   We have an inter-disciplinary unit each year with our Grade 10 students in conjunction with the Math department.  Students study Statistics in Math and Global Economics in World history. Students research statistical data for a specific country on a specific topic to write a research paper that shows how the data informs their policy decisions.  The culminating assessment is a MUN type day where students are in Committees specific to the topic and they utilize statistics to create collaborative resolutions. The topics are largely dealing with socio-economic issues such as health, gender, trade, Africa- Chinese relations,  the Belt Road Initiative, and  Actually the Belt Road topic is addressed in the one committee that we run completely in Chinese as a re-creation of the Chinese State Council (I am in Beijing at a bilingual school)—all of the other committees are conducted in English and are represented by nation-states. This website uses data to inform the policy articles so it does a nice job modeling what students will be doing in the simulation.  In particular the intro section on What is Power is useful as Professor Nye provides a short 8 minute video clip on the three main ways nations can exert power (including soft power).   As part of this section of the website, there is a feature on China and Gender inequality.  https://chinapower.csis.org/china-gender-inequality/  The website uses data from the World Economic Forum, broken down into Global Gender Parity, health, birth rates, education access, economic opportunities and political participation.   There are additional articles relating to the Belt Road Initiative, China’s Engagement with Africa and also on the soft power influence (or not) of Chinese film.  Some of the links within the site may be sensitive for Chinese audiences but students will be able to find quality information for their committee topics on the site.  On an additional note, the think tank (CISS) is well renowned having a 2020 ranking of being fourth in the world. This attests to the quality analysis and reputation of the resources provided on the site. https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018&context=think_tanks

 

 

 

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