Chillin in the Sultan

I convince myself I am Turkish by wolfing down doener kebabs and smoking shisha. I have spent the past few days running every day and working out with my Shifu. He is headed to Shanghai later this week in preparation for the torch relay. He has been hired to do security.

here is a good primer by the Council on Foreign Relations concerning nationalism in China. There are decent links and as usual, the “double-edged” sword of nationalism is the West’s last gasp at controlling this unruly “new kid” on the block. The last sentence in the primer states:

“All this makes nationalism a particularly interesting force in China, given its potential not just for conferring legitimacy on the government but also for taking it away.”

This refers to the possibility that the people will demand aggressive action toward the West/Japan etc. but it is politically inconvenient for the government to do so. The people would then theoretically call the government into question.

This may have been the case a few years ago, but time travels very fast. The Chinese government is not afraid of the West anymore. They might even relish the chance to confront the West head-on, expediting their rise to superpower status.