In the past few years there have been a slew of books decrying the political decay and dysfunction of Western democracy.

Curtis S. Chin, former U.S. Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, describes how fighting corruption differs in China and the United States while examining Chinese President Xi Jinping’s push to rid the Communist Party of corruption.

With August 22, 2014 marking the 110th Anniversary of Deng Xiaoping’s birth, Yu Sui reflects on the role this remarkable date plays in China’s foreign policy and how Xi Jinping has carried on Deng’s work.

China’s strengthening cooperation with Latin American countries will benefit regional economic prosperity and development, and is also in the interest of the US, according to Dong Chunling and Sun Changhao.

President Xi Jinping’s recent trip to Latin America underscored four aspects of China’s outreach efforts to Latin America. To expand South-South cooperation, to promote multi-polarity, to hedge against risks and challenges to future development by enhancing BRICS and Latin American cooperation, and to improve the provision of international public goods.

No sooner had the dust settled from the World Cup than Brazil played host to the five leaders of the BRICS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. An immediate outcome of the Fortaleza summit was the formation of the New Development Bank, a development finance institution to rival the World Bank. The group also announced a currency reserve pool as an alternative to the IMF. Done right, both initiatives could change the institutional landscape for multilateral development financing.

The purge of China’s highest-ranking general to be expelled from the party affirms that Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign is the boldest and most serious that China has ever experienced, write Cheng Li and Ryan McElveen.

Relations between China and South Korea continue to improve. Their two governments have developed a strong economic partnership and managed their security differences over North Korea and other issues well. Surveys of South Korean public opinion show a remarkable rise in popular assessments of China and its policies. Nevertheless, South Korea remains a reliable U.S. ally and security partner and Beijing’s options regarding Seoul are seriously constrained as long as China remains committed to sustaining North Korea as a buffer state.

Chinese President Xi Jinping recently made a trip to South Korea to further three objectives, according to Mel Gurtov. Given these three objectives, Gurtov analyzes and discusses their implications. More broadly, he also analyzes the implications of President Xi Jinping’s trip in general.