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Welcome to Geopolitics Unpacked.

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I'm Alex.

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And I'm Sarah.

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Today we're discussing Ben Xu's paper 'A Tale of 2 Treaties' and exploring the geopolitical dynamics of the Cold War era.

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Sarah, the paper introduces this fascinating concept of '轮庄博弈' (turn-based power game) to explain historical cycles.

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How does this apply to the rise and fall of the Warsaw Pact and NATO?

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It's brilliant.

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The paper argues that just like in a mahjong game, the '庄家' (庄家) tries to maintain power by exploiting the '闲家' (闲家), but eventually gets overthrown by a coalition of the exploited.

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Applied to the Cold War, this explains how the Soviet Union's attempts to maintain control over its satellite states led to the collapse of the Warsaw Pact.

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Hello, this is Dmitri calling from Moscow.

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I found the paper's analysis of the Soviet Union's collapse particularly insightful.

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The author mentions how the Soviet Union's focus on military power at the expense of technological innovation led to its decline.

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Do you think this is still relevant today?

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Great question, Dmitri.

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The paper does highlight how the Soviet Union's decision to abandon the Setun ternary computer in favor of copying IBM's binary systems was a critical mistake.

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This technological stagnation, combined with the arms race,耗尽了 the Soviet economy.

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What do you think, Sarah?

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Absolutely, Dmitri.

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The paper's analysis of the '赛博共产主义' (cyber communism) vision that never materialized is fascinating.

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The Soviet Union had the technical expertise to develop advanced computing systems, but bureaucratic interests and a focus on military might derailed those efforts.

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This is a cautionary tale for any nation that prioritizes military power over technological innovation.

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Thank you.

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It's interesting to see how the paper connects these historical lessons to contemporary geopolitics.

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The rise of China as a technological power while maintaining a strong military presence shows that a balance is possible.

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That's a great point, Dmitri.

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Thank you for calling in.

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Hi, this is Priya from New Delhi.

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I was intrigued by the paper's section on '革命输出的会计困局' (the accounting dilemma of revolution export).

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The author argues that China's foreign aid policies during the Cold War suffered from conflicting objectives.

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Could you elaborate on this?

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Thanks for calling, Priya.

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The paper uses an accounting metaphor to explain the problem.

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Traditional tributary systems had clear objectives (maintaining political order), but revolutionary export tried to achieve both political returns and selfless aid simultaneously, leading to confusion and inefficiency.

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Sarah, could you expand on this?

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Definitely, Priya.

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The paper argues that this accounting dilemma led to situations where China provided significant aid to countries like Albania and Vietnam without clear strategic returns.

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When these relationships soured, it created diplomatic challenges.

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The author suggests that this experience influenced China's more pragmatic foreign aid policies today, which are more focused on mutual benefit through economic cooperation.

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Fascinating.

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This perspective helps explain the evolution of China's foreign policy from the Cold War era to today's Belt and Road Initiative.

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Thank you for the insight.

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Thank you, Priya.

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It's been great having both of you on the show today.

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Join us next time as we continue exploring the insights from Ben Xu's 'A Tale of 2 Treaties' and their relevance to contemporary geopolitics.

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Until then, this is Geopolitics Unpacked signing off.