East Meets West

November 9, 2023

8:30 am - 11:45 am

In-Person and Virtual

With a long-anticipated meeting between President Biden and President Xi at the APEC summit on the horizon, the Quincy Institute and Foreign Policy will host a series of conversations with experts and leaders on the state of U.S.-China relations and potential pathways forward to avoid a confrontation.

What is the fundamental challenge at the heart of the U.S.-China relationship, and how is it evolving over time? What are the broader implications of a deteriorating relationship for the U.S. and global economy? How are strategic investments being utilized by both nations to exert influence, particularly in the Global South, and to what end? Is a direct military conflict between the U.S. and China plausible, and what would be the potential catalysts and ramifications of such a scenario?

The event took place on Thursday, November 9 from 8:30 – 11:45 AM EDT, in-person at Union Station in Washington D.C. View the full livestream of the event below.

Download the full event transcript here

Panelists

Andrew Bacevich

Andrew Bacevich co-founded the Quincy Institute in 2019 and is the Chairman of the institution’s board of directors. He is Professor Emeritus of International Relations and History at Boston University. A graduate of West Point and Princeton, he served in the army before becoming an academic. He is the author of several bestselling books including most recently, On Shedding an Obsolete Past: Bidding Farewell to the American Century (2022).

Sarang Shidore

Sarang Shidore is Director of the Global South Program at the Quincy Institute, and a senior non-resident fellow at the Council on Strategic Risks. He is also a member of the adjunct faculty at George Washington University, where he teaches a class on the geopolitics of climate change. His areas of research and analysis are geopolitical risk, grand strategy, and climate security, with a special emphasis on the Global South and Asia. Sarang has more than 100 publications to his credit in journals, edited volumes, and media outlets in his areas of expertise, including in Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, The Nation, South China Morning Post, Council on Foreign Relations and others

Kurt Campbell

Kurt M. Campbell serves as Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs on the National Security Council. He was previously chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Asia Group, LLC, a strategic advisory and capital management group. Campbell was formerly the CEO and Co-Founder of the Center for a New American Security and concurrently served as the director of the Aspen Strategy Group and Chairman of the Editorial Board of the Washington Quarterly.

Rep. Adam Smith

Adam Smith (D-WA) has served in the House of Representatives since 1996, currently representing Washington's ninth congressional district. Smith serves on the House Armed Services Committee, previously serving as the chair of the committee. Smith attended the University of Washington Law School and previously served in the Washington State Senate.

Carolyn Bartholomew

Carolyn Bartholomew is the chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, reappointed to the position in 2021. She previously served as the Commission’s Chairman for five report cycles and served as Vice Chairman for six report cycles. Chairman Bartholomew has worked at senior levels in the U.S. Congress, serving as a long-time counsel, legislative director, and chief of staff to then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.