China in the World

On this joint episode of the China in the World podcast and the U.S.-China Nexus podcast, Eleanor Albert interviews Paul Haenle and two of his former National Security Council (NSC) colleagues, Dennis Wilder and Faryar Shirzad, about U.S. policy toward China during the George W. Bush administration. The three experts assess president Bush’s approach to China and the strategic perspective that guided U.S. engagement with Beijing as well as its hedging strategy against the prospect of a more ambitious China. In many respects, Haenle, Shirzad, and Wilder find that the Bush administration's economic and security initiatives served as building blocks for the United States’ current strategy in the Indo-Pacific. The conversation touches on the China section of the recently published Hand-Off: The Foreign Policy George W. Bush Passed to Barack Obama (2023), an edited volume with 30 commentaries and newly declassified transition memoranda, made public for the first time.

The U.S.-China Nexus podcast: https://uschinadialogue.georgetown.edu/podcasts/hand-off-the-china-policy-george-w-bush-passed-to-barack-obama

Order a copy of Hand-Off: The Foreign Policy George W. Bush Passed to Barack Obama: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780815739777/Hand-Off-The-Foreign-Policy-George-W-Bush-Passed-to-Barack-Obama

In this episode of the China in the World podcast, Paul Haenle speaks with Evan Laksmana about U.S.-China dynamics in Southeast Asia and Southeast Asian views of U.S. foreign policy in the region. Haenle and Laksmana touch on the role of ASEAN, the Quad, and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework as well as China and the United States’ competing visions of regional order.

Evan Laksmana is a nonresident scholar at Carnegie China, where he examines U.S.-China dynamics in Southeast Asia and the broader Asia-Pacific. Laksmana is also a senior research fellow with the Centre on Asia and Globalisation at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. He is also a nonresident scholar with the Lowy Institute for International Policy. His research focuses on military change, civil-military relations, and Southeast Asian defense and foreign policies.

If you enjoy listening to the China in the World podcast, consider checking out the Carnegie Endowment’s suite of podcasts:

https://carnegieendowment.org/the-world-unpacked

https://carnegieendowment.org/events/carnegieconnects

https://carnegieindia.org/interpretingindia

https://carnegieendowment.org/grandtamasha

https://carnegieeurope.eu/europeinsideout

The international order is shifting. Besides COVID-19 and supply chain disruptions, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to major crises that threaten global stability. While the European Union, the United States, and their allies and partners struggle to preserve peace in Europe, tensions are rising across the globe in the Taiwan Strait. To what degree has the world order shifted in 2022? How might the United States respond to intensifying challenges from Russia and China? How can the United States leverage the support of its allies and partners?

During a live recording of the China in the World podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Anja Manuel to examine ongoing challenges to the global rules-based order. This discussion is the second of Carnegie China's 2022 Distinguished Speakers Series and is available to be viewed on the Carnegie Endowment's website.

https://carnegieendowment.org/2022/08/25/distinguished-speakers-series-anja-manuel-on-international-order-and-disorder-event-7922

Discussion of U.S.-China-Russia relations often focuses on how American policy is driving Moscow and Beijing closer together. This analysis, however, ignores important factors limiting cooperation between China and Russia and preventing the two countries from forming an alliance. Paul Haenle sat down with Carnegie scholars Dmitri Trenin, Eugene Rumer, and Alexander Gabuev to discuss constraints on the China-Russia relationship and their implications for U.S. policy.
Trenin, Rumer, and Gabuev agreed that there are clear limits to further China-Russia cooperation. Trenin characterized the relationship as an “entente” driven by a high degree of mutual strategic understanding on common core interests. Gabuev argued that China’s rapid pace of growth relative to Russia’s has led to insecurities in the Kremlin despite their growing economic, military, and technological ties. Russia does not want the relationship to become too asymmetrical and fears becoming overly reliant on Beijing for economic and technological support. Rumer argued neither side is looking for an alliance, as both Moscow and Beijing want to maintain positive relations, but at an arm’s-length. Haenle highlighted that Russia and China hold divergent views of the international system, leading to fundamental disagreements over whether to reform or undermine the global order. He argued that China is increasingly frustrated by Russian attempts to further its geopolitical aspirations by exploiting global instability.

To commemorate the fifth anniversary of the China in the World podcast, Paul Haenle is interviewing five of the most respected Chinese international affairs scholars to discuss this important inflection point in U.S.-China relations. For the fourth episode in this series, Haenle spoke with Shi Yinhong, Director of the American Studies Institute at Renmin University and Director of the Academic Committee of the School of International Relations.
Shi pointed to two important turning points in China’s foreign policy shift to a more assertive international approach. The first was the global financial crisis stressed the importance of China’s economic development as an engine for global growt. The second was Xi’s rise to power and a more ambitious international approach. Shi said China undertook a number of new foreign policy initiative in the South China Sea, relations with Russia, and the Belt and Road Initiative. China is now at a stage where it should assess the successes and failures of its recent foreign policies. Beijing must be willing to be flexible and adjust its future international engagement to reflect the realities of the evolving geopolitical environment. At home, Chinese policymakers should implement much more broad and deep reforms to ensure stable economic and financial systems. This includes areas increasing market access, giving equal treatment to private and state owned enterprises, and addressing core demands laid out in the USTR section 301 report. Time is running out, Shi argued, and China needs to act quickly before implementing further economic reforms becomes too difficult. In the current contentious US-China relationship, Shi said prudent pessimists are needed to think through urgent resolutions and save the bilateral relationship from continuing down a dangerous path.