Born in Shanghai, China, in 1921, political scientist and educator Arthur Doak Barnett spent much of his early life in China. After receiving an M.A. from Yale University in 1942 and a Ph.D. in 1947, he began a career as a journalist, working as the China and Southeast Asia correspondent for the Chicago Daily News from 1947 to 1950 and again from 1952 to 1955. Barnett also worked in the region in various positions for the U.S. State Department and served on the American Universities Field Staff. Since 1961 Barnett has held various posts at Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, and the Brookings Institution, as well as numerous positions on Chinese and international studies… organizations. In 1989 he became professor emeritus, John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Barnett has been one of the best-known experts in the United States on China. Widely consulted on issues relating to foreign policy and U.S. relations with China, his work is a major source for understanding the evolving complexity of the People's Republic of China.