APPLETON, WIS. — Patience and persistence will be keys to successfully navigating the mix of cooperative and competitive elements facing the U.S.-China relationship in the future says a scholar on Chinese foreign policy and East Asian security
In the second installment of Lawrence University’s 2008 Povolny International Studies Lecture Series, Phillip Saunders presents “Strategic Dimensions of U.S.-China Relations,” Wednesday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. in Science Hall, 102. The event is free and open to the public.
Saunders, a senior research fellow at the National Defense University’s Institute for National Strategic Studies in Washington, D.C., believes bilateral tensions between the United States and China are likely to increase significantly in the next few years. His presentation will examine several of the strategic challenges China poses to the United States, among them the potential for domestic crises, its nuclear modernization and the Taiwan situation.
According to Saunders, effective pursuit of U.S. interests in dealing with China are compromised by different priorities within the government as well as the trade offs faced between short-term policy goals and long-term strategies.
“Leadership, vision and patience will be necessary for the United States to take full advantage of the benefits that cooperation with China offers while successfully meeting the strategic challenges China poses to U.S. interests,” says Saunders.
Prior to joining the INSS, Saunders spent four years at the Monterey Institute of International Studies as the director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program. He also has taught courses on Chinese politics and foreign policy and conducted research on East Asian security issues for the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and for the Pentagon while an officer in the United States Air Force.
Richard Bush, a 1969 Lawrence graduate and director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution, will conclude the series Monday, Feb. 25 with the address “The Taiwan Strait Issue and U.S.-China Relations.”
The “U.S.-China Relations” lecture series is sponsored by the Mojmir Povolny Lectureship in International Studies. Named in honor of long-time Lawrence government professor Mojmir Povolny, the lectureship promotes interest and discussion on issues of moral significance and ethical dimensions.
