Lecturer @UniofOxford | Author of a NEW BOOK: ‘A New Axis of Upheaval: North Korea, Russia, China, Iran’ | Organist | Views my own
Oxford/London
Joined March 2013
- Tweets13.6K
- Following3K
- Followers3.2K
- Likes43.8K
Pinned Tweet
Very pleased to announce that my latest book, 'A NEW AXIS OF UPHEAVAL: North Korea, Russia, China, Iran' will be published by @HurstPublishers later this year.
Amidst global geopolitical turbulence, there is no better time than the present to understand these dynamics.
If you would like to know how not to evaluate Mao’s legacy, read the below.
Utter tripe—which is unfair to the delicacy of tripe—at best, and a denial of the facts at worst.
For once, the community note is actually useful. Millions of people did indeed die under Mao's reign. It was a tragedy.
But, for some reason, the Western mind seems incapable of grasping the complex impact of Mao. In the West, we refuse to acknowledge that Mao is actually respected and admired in China.
I've listed a few reasons in my original post. Unity and sovereignty are big ones. After a century of being carved up and subjected to imperialism, Mao unified China into a single central state. He removed foreign influence. He stood up to the US.
China’s status as a major power today rests on foundations built by Mao.
Edward Howell retweeted
I wish more people remembered that *not* posting on the internet is always an option.
Under “dictator” Mao, life expectancy in China increased by 30 years, literacy rates went from 20% to 70%, steel output grew from 1 million to 23 million tons, 47 million hectares of land was taken from landlords and given to peasants, and China was unified under a strong central state and got nuclear weapons.
Despite his failures, it does not take a rocket scientist to understand why Mao is revered in China.
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
Mao's Great Leap Forward and related policies caused an estimated 30-45 million famine deaths in 1959-1961 alone, with total excess deaths under his rule often estimated at 40 million or higher.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chi…
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC43…
chinafile.com/library/nyrb-c…
Edward Howell retweeted
“My proposal? Not one penny of public money should be funding this rubbish. These ideas are destructive and dividing, and they must go. You can decolonise all you want on your own dollar, but no public money should come your way.” spectator.com/article/we-nee…
What a sorry state of affairs.
Apologising for a statement of fact.
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
The CCP's 1981 resolution documents Mao's arbitrary rule, concentration of power, undermining of collective leadership, and personality cult (Sections 18, 20, 24)
characteristics associated with dictatorship.
china.usc.edu/node/20941
Edward Howell retweeted
A new must read!
Advance copies of my upcoming book, 'A New Axis of Upheaval', are available in November from @HurstPublishers
Click the link below to pre-order!
'An eye-opening and enthralling book bursting with insights about the complex relationships between North Korea, Russia, China and Iran. Essential reading for anyone seeking to understand our increasingly turbulent world' @peterfrankopan
hurstpublishers.com/book/a-n…
Advance copies of my upcoming book, 'A New Axis of Upheaval', are available in November from @HurstPublishers
Click the link below to pre-order!
'An eye-opening and enthralling book bursting with insights about the complex relationships between North Korea, Russia, China and Iran. Essential reading for anyone seeking to understand our increasingly turbulent world' @peterfrankopan
hurstpublishers.com/book/a-n…
Stockpile food in case of cyber attacks and threats from hostile powers, Labour says, all the while the government continues to abandon increases in defence spending, pursue policies of appeasement towards China, and claim that social security is more important than national security.
Isn’t it ironic: the national crisis against which Labour warns is self-inflicted.
Households have been warned to stockpile food and water in case of cyber attacks.
Wes Streeting, the Defence Secretary, launched a “national resilience conversation” on Thursday, asking Britons to prepare for disruption caused by natural disasters or cyber attacks by hostile states.
🔗:telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/10…
Completely and utterly correct, @aliciakearns.
Powell must resign: as one of the core architects of the Chagos Islands 'deal', Powell is compromising Britain's insecurity and playing into the hands of Beijing.
He is not our National Security Adviser, but the driver of Britain's insecurity.
Jonathan Powell’s position as National Security Adviser is untenable.
His repeated meetings with the CCP were disclosed not by the British Government, but by Chinese Communist Party read outs, and serious questions remain over his role in the collapsed China spy case.
He is responsible for the Government’s disastrous Chagos negotiations and still advocates giving away billions in taxpayer money to surrender a British territory.
He has refused to appear before many Parliamentary committees.
Now, concerning material shared publicly by his wife raises further questions about his judgement and sharing access to sensitive information.
If he were a Minister, he would have to appear in front of Parliament to answer for these glaring concerns.
Instead, the man running our foreign policy and national security refuses any scrutiny.
telegraph.co.uk/politics/202…
My small contribution to today’s @Telegraph on Healey’s (and Labour’s) hypocrisy:
Excellent to feature on @spectator.
For more on the links between the U.S.-Russia diesel deal and South Korea, check out my latest piece:
spectator.com/article/trumps…
Donald Trump is buying 300,000 tonnes of diesel from Vladimir Putin, with more to come later this year.
Critics say it’s another case of Trump cosying up to dictators. But with the Iran war choking oil supplies and fuel prices rising. could dealing with Russia be the only option?
Edward Howell, lecturer in International Relations at Oxford University, explains why some countries are turning to Putin.
Read Edward's full article here | spectator.com/article/trumps…
@TheEdwardHowell
Edward Howell retweeted
"Academics launch rival inquiry
Committee for Academic Freedom will examine [whether Jason Arday’s] employment at Cambridge met expected standards" (Times)
I’ll submit my own assessment of Arday's illiterate thesis. It failed to meet expected standards for PhD, let alone a Cambridge professorship.
Thank goodness Mary Beard is not designing the National Curriculum.
If Labour think that Liz Truss “crasheth the economy”, they should see what the deadly combination of Reeves and Healey will bring.
And the result of such economic illiteracy?
ET FUGA VERTERUNT ANGLI.
Most amusing indeed!
But eheu! Why the egregious split infinitive? A grammatical erratum has been committed.
To truly understand the Birmingham Tapestry, I have asked a doctor of Anglo-Saxon History to take us all through it.
Step forward, Conservative Party Deputy Leader, Dr @alexburghart .
