A lifelong academic, she stood apart in her ability to communicate her insights about the country to nonacademic readers.
Author: Clay Risen
Merle Goldman, a Leading Expert on Communist China, Dies at 92
A lifelong academic, she stood apart in her ability to communicate her insights about the country to nonacademic readers.
Peter Tarnoff Dies at 86; Diplomat Helped Plot ‘Argo’ Escape From Iran
A consummate man behind the scenes, he held top posts under Carter and Clinton, and in between ran the Council on Foreign Relations.
Viktor Belenko, Who Defected to the West in a Jet Fighter, Dies at 76
Among the highest-profile figures to flee the Soviet Union, he brought with him a secret weapon and firsthand experience behind the Iron Curtain.
Laszlo Solyom, a Transitional President of Hungary, Dies at 81
A noted legal scholar, he helped lead his country away from Communism after the fall of the Soviet bloc but could not stop its embrace of right-wing populism.
Jango Edwards, Clown Who Challenged His Art Form, Dies at 73
More Frank Zappa than Ronald McDonald, he moved the field beyond red noses, infusing it with social commentary while breaking down walls of propriety.
Hugo Blanco, Environment Activist Who Targeted Capitalism, Dies at 88
In Peru, he argued that global capitalism was at the root of the global ecological crisis, and he spent decades fighting for an alternative.
Isabel Crook, 107, Dies; Her Life in China Spanned a Century of Change
A noted educator and anthropologist, she spent almost her entire life in China, where she was a committed friend of the Communist government.
Henri Konan Bédié, Ivory Coast President Deposed in a Coup, Dies at 89
As a longtime power broker he helped make his West African country an economic dynamo, but in office he fomented ethnic divisions and cracked down on dissent.
Dermot Doran, Priest Who Rallied Aid for Biafran Airlift, Dies at 88
In 1968, Father Doran, who had been in Nigeria as an educator, became the linchpin of one of the largest civilian humanitarian efforts in history.