Crises in U.S.-China Relations: Lessons Learned from 40 Years of U.S.-China Diplomacy

Description

The outbreak of the coronavirus in January in Wuhan has become a global pandemic affecting all major economies and societies. While confronting global health challenges had been a joint U.S.-China effort in the past, this outbreak has led to bilateral finger-pointing and a further slide in relations. To understand how we got here and help guide us forward, two dozen former senior U.S. officials — including Madeleine Albright, Charlene Barshefsky, Gary Locke, Winston Lord, John Negroponte, Doug Paal, Stapleton Roy, Susan Thornton, and Robert Zoellick — sat down to record their reflections on their experiences and leadership during pivotal events in U.S.-China relations. These recorded interviews are being released individually as episodes in the U.S.-China Dialogue Podcast series so that the past decisions of cabinet secretaries, ambassadors, and senior officials can help a new generation of policymakers, scholars, and strategists. These former officials help listeners explore the negotiating history of major periods of conflict and cooperation between the U.S. and China: from anti-Soviet coordination to nonproliferation, from the Tiananmen crackdown to cyber theft, from China's WTO accession to G20 summits.

James Green (SAIS '95), a longtime China expert who recently served for five years as the senior trade official at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, created and moderates the podcasts. During the discussion, Green will summarize his conclusions from the podcast series and speak about the prospects for future trade friction based on his time working with the Obama and Trump Administrations on the front lines of the conflict.

Learn more about the speaker online. This event is hosted by the School of Advanced International Studies.