As China prepares to hold its 19th Party Congress, an event with momentous policy implications, SAIS China hosted a discussion by David Lampton to highlight trends in the US-China relationship. He spoke about the friction in the economic and military ties between the two nations prior to the Xi Jinping administration and the uncertainties and risks that have developed since the inauguration of US President Trump. Lampton spoke about how the United States has in recent decades fostered the emergence of new power centers, including China. He stressed that the US must win cooperation rather than compel it and will increasingly have to negotiate with China. He argued that the US needs to get i
The Foreign Policy Institute hosted a discussion betwen Vali Nasr and Antony Blinken on pressing diplomatic issues facing the United States and the world, marking the beginning of a new academic year and the continuation of its series, The Art of Diplomacy. Nasr began by examining conflict with North Korea and the interpretation of threats from Pyongyang. Blinken noted that the US is in a difficult position as a result of Pyongyang’s development of intercontinental ballistic missiles. He mentioned that the Obama administration pushed back on a number of fronts—including China—a similar approach now employed by the Trump administration. Blinken dismissed the idea of launching a preemptive m