181 lines
4.9 KiB
Plaintext
181 lines
4.9 KiB
Plaintext
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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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00:00:13,490 --> 00:00:23,202
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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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00:00:23,202 --> 00:00:27,565
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How does this apply to the rise and fall of the Warsaw Pact and NATO?
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00:00:27,724 --> 00:00:29,474
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It's brilliant.
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00:00:29,424 --> 00:00:39,361
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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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00:00:39,361 --> 00:00:48,861
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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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00:00:49,012 --> 00:00:52,762
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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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00:01:13,518 --> 00:01:15,330
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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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00:01:34,892 --> 00:01:41,380
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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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00:03:46,572 --> 00:03:49,684
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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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00:03:58,625 --> 00:04:03,038
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Until then, this is Geopolitics Unpacked signing off.
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