How China and the US Threaten Each Other

The Sino-American relationship is proof positive that, if you disregard a country’s interests or treat it like an enemy, you can and will make it one. For most of human history, China was the wealthiest and most powerful society on the planet. Over the past four decades, it has sought to restore itself to this … Continue reading “How China and the US Threaten Each Other”

US Interests and Pretenses in a Changing Middle East

In June 1974, cornered by Watergate, Richard Nixon set off on a quick tour of the Middle East. This is something presidents seem to do when they’re in trouble back home. In no foreign region is U.S. statecraft so inseparable from domestic politics. But the unpalatable realities of the Middle East have made it the … Continue reading “US Interests and Pretenses in a Changing Middle East”

Ready, Fire, Aim: US Interests in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria

I have been asked to join my fellow panelists in speaking about U.S. interests in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. For some reason, our government has never been able to articulate these interests, but, judging by the fiscal priority Americans have assigned to these three countries in this century, they must be immense – almost transcendent. … Continue reading “Ready, Fire, Aim: US Interests in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria”

Taiwan Arms Sales and the Erosion of US-Sino Diplomacy

Like everyone here, I feel honored to have had the opportunity to serve our country. I did so for three decades before entering the private sector a quarter century ago. I now chair a globally engaged business development company and the Committee for the Republic. I also lecture at Brown University’s Watson Institute, among other … Continue reading “Taiwan Arms Sales and the Erosion of US-Sino Diplomacy”

On Hostile Coexistence With China

Remarks to the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies China Program, May 3, 2019 President Trump’s trade war with China has quickly metastasized into every other domain of Sino-American relations. Washington is now trying to dismantle China’s interdependence with the American economy, curb its role in global governance, counter its foreign investments, cripple its companies, … Continue reading “On Hostile Coexistence With China”

After the Trade War, a Real War With China?

Remarks to the St. Petersburg Conference on World Affairs, St. Petersburg, Florida, February 12, 2019 I’m here at your kind invitation to discuss China, how bad our relations with it may get, and how the contest we’ve initiated with China is likely to play out. Let me take a minute or two to set the … Continue reading “After the Trade War, a Real War With China?”