April 2016

Russia’s Far East is supposedly a strategically important area for President Vladimir Putin’s administration, with the government repeatedly declaring that development of the remote territory is one of its top priorities. But, as any Russian expert will tell you, many governments have made such claims over the decades, and yet nothing much has actually happened. Despite its vast natural resources, the region continues to stagnate.

The immense popularity of social media has afforded China watchers a terrific window onto public opinion in China. In recent years, a slew of English-language websites have emerged to interpret the various trends and phenomena, discourse, and debates on the Chinese Internet for non-Chinese audiences, but for our money the very best of the bunch is Chublic Opinion—public opinion with Chinese characteristics—written by Ma Tianjie.