Thanks for stopping by. I'm Graham Webster, a journalist, consultant, and researcher. Thematically, I work on technology, the environment, and politics. My regional expertise is in China, Japan, and the Asia-Pacific, though my interests are far wider. Specifically, I have done a lot of work on the internet in China, cybersecurity, U.S.-China relations and environmental negotiations, and various other themes. I have also written on Chinese contemporary art, and harbor an undercover interest in Inner Asian history.

Check out some of my writing or my educational and work backround, or get in touch directly.

I am currently based in New York City, where I work at the EastWest Institute and move along with various projects.

The Transpacifica project is an online resource and blog on global affairs in Asia and the Americas. Born in 2006, it presently suffers from benign neglect among other obligations.

A newer blog where I explore the ways technological change, information flows, and the Internet affect governments worldwide.

Asia and the world in the State of the Union
With a domestic economic focus expected to anchor the evening, the prepared text of U.S. President Barack Obama’s 2012 State of the Union speech (according to WSJ) is similar to last year’s in its emphasis on Asia. At least measured … Continue reading →
Posted on 24 January 2012 9:30 pm

Minxin Pei: Why economic reform is impossible with CCP rule
Minxin Pei, a political scientist known in part for his book China’s Trapped Transition, writes in the Financial Times that the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to maintain power are ultimately incompatible with economic reform. Pei writes: One may be tempted … Continue reading →
Posted on 24 January 2012 11:44 am

‘Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry’ Debuts at Sundance
Just as Ai Weiwei was detained in Beijing, Alison Klayman was working to finalize her years-in-the-making documentary on Ai’s life and his recent political outspokenness. I haven’t seen the full film, but it apparently received a standing ovation at its … Continue reading →
Posted on 23 January 2012 1:41 pm

Polluting in the new year!
First, of course, happy new year to all those greeting the year of the dragon this week. I, for one, am suitably stuffed. Second, via Angel Hsu, this image depicting what is most likely a huge cloud of noxious firecracker … Continue reading →
Posted on 23 January 2012 1:17 pm

Is US nuclear energy stuck short of the thorium solution?
From Vice’s Motherboard and my friend Alex Pasternack, here is a great short documentary on an alternative nuclear energy model that many interviewed believe would have safety and economic benefits. Moving from a uranium and plutonium fuel cycle to one based on thorium, they say, would produce reactors whose failure state would be a safe [...]
Posted on 22 January 2012 3:34 pm

I wrote this blog published by the CNET Blog Network, covering technology and the internet in China. Archived posts still up. (January–November 2008)

This short-lived magazine was built with love by a bunch of us based at university in Chicagoland. It had contributions from every continent except Antarctica and held events in Chicago, New York, and Maine before running out of money and energy. Its website lives on, and some day will be adapted into a memorial display of sorts.