On Xi Jinping

A book of singular importance… It’s distinctive, and therefore intensely valuable, and a classically Rudd enterprise because it involved reading, analysing and putting into Chinese and communist context every significant thing Xi has ever said or written. Greg Sheridan, The Australian

Xi Jinping is one of the most important, but most unknowable leaders of the modern world. Kevin Rudd uses meticulous readings of Chinese sources and deep knowledge of Beijing politics to interpret Xi’s thinking in a fascinating and revealing way that is both deeply scholarly and informed by Rudd’s own understanding of leadership. Rana Mitter, ST Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations, Harvard Kennedy School

Public servant, prime minister, diplomat, scholar–Kevin Rudd’s resume is also a stellar CV for the elite caste of scholar-bureaucrats that managed the Chinese empire for over a millennium. On Xi Jinping focusses the experience of a political practitioner engaged with China since his teenage years to analyse Xi Jinpingâs Party Empire and its global ambitions. Rudd also attempts the seemingly impossible by offering words of guidance and hope in this darkling age. Geremie R. Barmé, editor of the China Heritage

Understanding Xi Jinping’s worldview and what it means for China and us, is more crucial now than ever. Rudd’s superb analysis provides the reader with a comprehensive guide to Xi’s thinking on domestic policy and global affairs. Rudd takes Xi’s words seriously and teases out the consequences: a politics and economics that has moved to the left and a foreign policy that has turned to a form of rightist nationalism. Rudd encapsulates these processes with the phrase ‘Marist-Leninist Nationalism.’ This work is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding where China has come from, where it is heading and the consequences for all of us. Anthony J. Saich, Daewoo Professor of International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

How has Xi Jinping’s ‘Marxist-Nationalism’ shaped China and its relations with the world? No one is better placed than Kevin Rudd to answer these questions, and he does so convincingly in these illuminating pages. This is an essential book for everyone interested in the future of China. Joseph S. Nye, Author of A Life in the American Century

In this book, Kevin Rudd provides all who care about peace a huge service. Drawing on his extraordinary knowledge of China and the Chinese system, Rudd reveals a side of Xi Jinping only comprehensible through his extensive ideological writings–giving us all unique insights into a man upon whom much of the future depends and helping scholars and policymakers alike better understand Xiâs motives and anticipate his actions. A remarkable read! Meghan L. O’Sullivan, Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Jeane Kirpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government

Understanding Xi Jinping, his plans for China, and how they will affect the world, is the central challenge for the United States and policymakers everywhere. As a foreign policy practitioner, a scholar, a Chinese language speaker, and a former world leader himself, Kevin Rudd is uniquely well placed to answer the question of what Xi Jinping actually believes. He does so brilliantly by drawing on Chinese primary sources, in-depth research, and a lifetime of experience dealing with China’s leadership. Stephen J. Hadley, National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush

Kevin Rudd is former Prime Minister and former Foreign Minister of Australia. He is also former President of the Asia Society and the current Australian Ambassador to the United States. He has a PhD in politics from Oxford University and is the author of The Avoidable War (2022), among other books.