Letter from the Editors
For each new era that dawns, another ends.
China is in its Xi era, Kazakhstan is contemplating a nuclear power era, and in Indonesia, Jokowi’s era is coming to a close. For each new era that dawns, another ends. But the legacies of the past linger, even if their significance can be reshaped by what follows.
October 1, 2024, marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. In light of that milestone, Elizabeth Economy – the Hargrove senior fellow and co-director of the Program on U.S., China, and the World at the Hoover Institution – explores Xi Jinping’s “new era” in the context of the PRC’s history. “On the surface, there is little that connects Xi Jinping’s PRC to that of [past leaders] Mao and Deng,” Economy writes. “But a closer examination of Xi’s rejuvenation strategy reveals that contemporary China is not only rooted in an enduring set of political and economic principles and institutions established at the inception of the country … but also reflects a high degree of policy continuity.”
Meanwhile, on October 6 Kazakhstan’s citizens will contemplate a single question: “Do you agree with constructing a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan?” The question is far from simple, as Dr. Togzhan Kassenova, an expert on nuclear politics and nonproliferation, explains. Kazakhstan’s increasing energy needs, the vicissitudes of geopolitics, the Soviet nuclear legacy, and tensions in government-civil society relations, she writes, “feed a heated debate on the country’s nuclear future.” Astana clearly aims to move Kazakhstan, conveniently the world's top producer of uranium, into a nuclear power era, but opposition runs deep in the country, regardless of how the referendum goes.
Finally, October 20 will mark the end of Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s 10 years at the helm in Indonesia. Journalist Joseph Rachman explores Jokowi’s unlikely rise to power – and his evolving public image, from the darling of liberal reformers to a perceived heir to Suharto attempting to set up his own political dynasty. Ultimately, Rachman writes, Jokowi leaves a complex legacy: He will be remembered for his “boldness” and “ability to connect with the Indonesian masses,” but also for “a willingness to tame Indonesia’s darker political forces through a mix of concession and coercive state power.”
We hope you enjoy these stories and the many more in the following pages.