Unlike many of the other topics you will read about on this blog, the question of China as an emerging power has been unfolding for many decades. From Nixon and Kissinger’s normalizing of US-Chinese relations in 1972 to the ongoing talks over carbon emissions and trade partnerships, its significance has evolved from something out of the periphery of the Cold War into what has become one of the most important bilateral relations of the 21st century. Since September, our group has been closely analyzing the most critical issues challenging the stability of this delicate relationship as they’ve been developing. Conflicts ranging from that age old standoff between North and South Korea to those now emerging in northern Iraq and Syria are all put into new perspective as we explore just how they are drawing these two powers closer and closer into contention. We also look at various aspects of strategic security including China’s development of anti-ship missiles and cyber espionage both of which have more directly revived some Cold War era tensions. In every post we try to identify potential points of conflict and cooperation.
The workflow of our group generally resembled that of an organized publication, with two or three people doing research and drafting a summary, two or three synthesizing the analysis, and an editor. After agreeing on a subject that relates back to our classroom discussions, everyone works on their own segment at their own pace and on their own time. By Friday or Saturday the disparate patchwork of bulletpoints, graphs, pictures, and paragraphs gets handed down to the editor who then forges a cohesive piece complete with citations, hyperlinks, images, and finally submits it. Our research was conducted exclusively online for the purposes of continuity and convenience.
As blogging becomes a more professionally and academically accepted medium of analysis, thought, and expression in the field of international relations, I find the skills necessary to execute a comprehensive blog post to be of great importance to myself and my peers. Working with a group of this size to produce a product that incorporates text, images, citations, and hyperlinks was also extremely valuable to someone who hopes to be doing work of a similar nature in the future. Trading off between the roles of research/summary, analysis, and editing also helped me identify my strengths and weaknesses both in group projects generally and within the various tasks of blogging. Ultimately, this blog project was an excellent exercise in a number of important functions all of which I will have to sharply develop.
–Miles Bierylo
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