American University Professor and former Wilson China Fellow Dr. Joseph Torigian explores in Prestige, Manipulation, and Coercion the politics of succession in the Soviet Union and China the politics of succession in the Soviet Union and China. He argues that the power struggles following the deaths of Stalin and Mao respectively were shaped by a "politics of personal prestige, historical antagonisms, backhanded political maneuvering, and violence,” not a triumph of collective leadership as previously believed. This argument is important for understanding Chinese politics today.