Knowledge Base

Terms You May Have Heard:

Authoritarianism: The denial of personal freedom in favor of strict obedience to an authority.

Chinese Communist Party (CCP): Founded in 1921, the Chinese Communist Party is the founding and only governing party of the People’s Republic of China. The party controls the People’s Liberation Army.

Liberal democracy: A form of representative democracy with free and fair elections, characterized by a competitive political process. All adult citizens are given the right to vote regardless of race, gender, or property ownership. A liberal democracy may take various constitutional forms such as constitutional republic, a federal republic, a constitutional monarchy, a presidential system, a parliamentary system, or a hybrid semi-presidential system. For example, the United States, India, Germany, and Brazil all take the form of a constitutional republic.

Liberal international order: The liberal international order established after World War II relies on the principles of liberal democracy, open markets, and multilateral institutions to guide international relations.

Belt and Road (One Belt One Road) Initiative: An infrastructure project started by the CCP that aims to create a network of railways, energy pipelines, and highways stretching from East Asia to Europe. The project involves more than 60 countries and would secure Chinese prominence across Asia. However, the project operates as a trap, promoting unaffordable construction projects to developing nations. When they cannot pay, China takes control of infrastructure in strategic locations.

People’s Republic of China (PRC): The current government of China, controlled by the Communist Chinese Party since 1949. China and its economy have changed considerably over the intervening decades. China’s economy was state run throughout Mao Zedong’s rule, until 1976. Disasters like the Great Leap Forward demonstrated the failure of central planning. When Deng Xiaoping allowed market reforms to begin in the early 1980s, the economy began one of the largest expansions in the history of humanity. China’s current economy is often labeled as a version of “authoritarian capitalism.” Recently, increased governmental control of critical economic sectors and growing limits on the rule of law suggest at least a partial restoration of stronger state control.

World Trade Organization (WTO): The WTO is an organization that deals with international trade between nations. It serves as a place for governments to solve trade problems as well as negotiate trade agreements. The WTO was founded in 1995, but it has roots in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which served as the standard for international free trade from 1948 to 1994.