Book Review
The Civil Society’s Initiative on Public Diplomacy during the COVID-19 — Comment on the Book Standing behind You! The 384 Hours from Tel Aviv to Huanggang
Bao Yu · 107 ·
After the outbreak of novel coronavirus disease in China, many governments, international organizations and friendly people in the world quickly offered their help, including some foreign bloggers who had been “internet celebrities” and active on social networking sites in China. They built a bridge of solidarity with donations of money or needed items, kind wishes and sharing of experience. Israeli blogger Raz Galor and his team titled the “Wai guo ren（Foreigners）Research Association” with more than 4 million fans quickly shipped a ton of most needed medical supplies from Israel to China’s Hubei Province and later wrote the experience as a story in the book Standing behind You！ The 384 Hours fromTel Aviv to Huanggang, which has become an epitome of a real and touching public diplomacy case during the fight against COVID-19.
How Do Think Tanks Influence Domestic and Foreign Policy Issues？— Comment on the Book The Fifth Estate: Think Tanks, Public Policy, Governance
Huang Lin · 111 ·
The book The Fifth Estate: Think Tanks, Public Policy, Governance (written by James G. McGann, translated by Li Haidong and published by the China Youth Press in February 2018) provides general definition of think tanks, and looks into the “revolving door” phenomena between think tanks and the government in the United States. By analyzing cases of important political issues both at home and abroad from the Clinton administration to that of Obama, the book sheds light on how think tanks, as the “fifth estate” in the civil society, connect knowledge and power, the people and the government, and how they integrate research outcomes and political ideas into the government’s policy-making.
