Departures Podcast with Stefan Aust and Adrian Geiges, authors of ‘Xi Jinping: The Most Powerful Man in the World’

As Xi Jinping concludes the 20th Party Congress and becomes the first Chinese leader to secure a third term, there is arguably no one in a position quite so powerful and influential in global politics. But who is Xi Jinping and what does he really want? 

This is the question tackled by two veteran German journalists, Stefan Aust and Adrian Geiges in their terrific new book, “Xi Jinping: The Most Powerful Man in the World.”

With clear-eyed analysis which avoids some of the usual pitfalls found in US approaches to China, Aust and Geiges draw a deeply detailed portrait of Xi’s rise and the foundations of his ideological drive. In this conversation with Robert Amsterdam, the two co-authors discuss the level of risk Xi has encountered by pushing China’s growth into a more aggressive, confrontational posture, and debate the various scenarios we can see coming in the new several years as the third term gets underway.