Uneasy Superpower: China in a multipolar world
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2025
1:30pm - 3:30pm
Lecture by:
Blaine Chiasson
The debate over when China will become a superpower is over; the Peeple’s Republic of China is a global superpower. Simultaneously the US appears to be relinquishing the role it played as THE global superpower. How will the People’s Republic respond to this opportunity? In this lecture I will examine the goals the PRC has set for itself, the successes and failures, the pushback from countries skeptical and threatened by the PRC, and the remarkable transformations taking place among Chinese citizens. All of these have implications for the goals PRC planners have set for the People’s Republic.
About Blaine Chiasson
Blaine Chiasson
Blaine Chiasson was born in Cheticamp, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. His BA is in Russian language & history from Dalhousie University. He attended the University of Toronto intending to continue his MA in Russian and Soviet history. After studying Mandarin language & Chinese history he became interested in the 500,000 + Russian émigré population in interwar China and switched to Modern Chinese history for his PhD. His research examined Russian and Chinese colonial administration in Manchuria. His monograph, Administering the Colonizer: Manchuria’s Russians under Chinese Rule 1919-1929 (2010) was published by UBC Press. His published articles examine Russian imperialism in China, Manchurian agricultural history, Beijing’s ethnic Chinese Russian Orthodox community and the Russian community in exile. As Laurier’s Asian historian he has taught Vietnam war course for 15 years.