U.S. China Policy: Accommodate or Double Down?

Two recent reports have triggered a discussion surrounding the evolution of US policy toward China. The fundamental choice confronting policymakers is whether to respond to China’s rise by accommodating its ambitions or to challenge the People’s Republic by attempting to reassert or double down on American preeminence in the Asia-Pacific region. While the choices may not be mutually exclusive, neither are they completely compatible. And even those who disagree over the best strategy, do agree that muddling along, choosing neither to accommodate or double down, is a non-viable option and that a choice must be made sooner rather than later. Kissinger Institute Director Robert Daly explains the options during this edition of  Wilson Center NOW. 

Guest
Robert Daly is director of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Wilson Center. He came to the Center from the University of Maryland, and prior to that was American Director of the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies. He began work in U.S.-China relations as a diplomat, serving as Cultural Exchanges Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing in the late 80s and early 90s. After leaving the Foreign Service, he taught Chinese at Cornell University, worked on television and theater projects in China, where he was the first American to have major Chinese-language stage and screen roles, and helped produce Chinese-language versions of Sesame Street and other Children’s Television Workshop programs. During the same period, he directed the Syracuse University China Seminar and served as a commentator on Chinese affairs for CNN, the Voice of America, and Chinese television and radio stations. He lived in China for 11 years and has interpreted for Chinese leaders, including Jiang Zemin and Li Yuanchao, and American leaders, including Jimmy Carter and Henry Kissinger.  

Host
John Milewski is the executive producer and managing editor of Wilson Center NOW and also serves as director of Wilson Center ON DEMAND digital programming. Previously he served as host and producer of Dialogue at the Wilson Center and Close Up on C-SPAN. He also teaches a course on politics and media for Penn State’s Washington Program.