“Deng Xiaoping vs. Gorbachev: Could Russia Have Followed the Pattern of Chinese Reforms?”

Sponsors: University at Buffalo Confucius Institute, with support from the Asian Studies Program, the History Department, and the Honors College

Abstract: Pantsov will discuss why Gorbachev ended up presiding over the fall of the Soviet Union, while Deng Xiaoping was able to steer China on a path toward wealth even while retaining its Communist government. Pantsov is the author of acclaimed biographies of China’s Chairman Mao and Deng Xiaoping, the architect of China’s rapid industrialization. He uses Russian archives to shed light on Chinese Communist history.