Richard Bernstein has been a reporter, culture critic, and commentator for more than 30 years. He was a foreign correspondent in Asia and Europe forTimemagazine andThe New York Times,and was the first Beijing bureau chief forTime. He is the author of many books on Chinese and Asian themes, among themThe Coming Conflict with ChinaandUltimate Journey,the latter of which was aNew York TimesBest Book of the Year. He is also the author ofOut of the Blue- A Narrative of September 11, 2001, which was named byThe Boston Globeas one of the seven best books of 2002. He lives in New York.