A few decades ago, Chinese officials and their advisors were keen to learn the lessons of Soviet collapse so as to avoid mistakes in their own reform process. Back then, I gave many talks in China on the topic. THREAD 1/
Back then , my book , Russia's Unfinished Revolution: Political Change for Gorbachev to Putin, was translated into Chinese; thousands of copies were sold; you can still find it in academic bookstores. 2/
Today, Chinese officials and their advisors would do well to study the lessons of Soviet overreach in foreign policy in the 1970s/1980s. Soviet reckless ventures abroad helped to trigger domestic problems and eventually downfall at home. 3/
They could start by reading/translating @SarahMendelson Changing Course: Ideas, Politics, and the Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan. amazon.com/Changing-Cours… END THREAD 4/
