On October 5, 2006, the Carnegie Endowment hosted a book launch for Harvard professor Roderick MacFarquhar to celebrate the release of his most recent book, Mao's Last Revolution, which he co-authored with Michael Schoenhals. MacFarquhar spoke about the contents of his book as well as the contribution it makes to the understanding of the Cultural Revolution.

Can China sustain its hybrid system, combining authoritarian governance and capitalist economics, or will it eventually have to democratize to continue its impressive economic growth?

On November 2, the China Program and China Vitae co-sponsored a day-long conference on Chinese leadership, with panels on the tools of leadership analysis, leadership similarities and differences on foreign policy, and leadership unity and conflict on domestic issues. Roderick MacFarquhar of Harvard University gave the keynote address.