"I would like to see the security piece, which has been laid out well — we see the rise of China as a real challenge on the security front, we need to compete strategically, I get all that and I support it — I would like to see that integrated more closely with our economic policies. Because if they're not, there's a chance that the frictions, political frictions created by the economic strategies, could undercut support for some of the things we need to do in the defense sector."
That's WEAI faculty member Thomas J. Christensen, James T. Shotwell Professor of International Relations and director of Columbia's China and the World Program, speaking last week on The Truth of the Matter with Andrew Schwartz, a podcast of the Washington, DC-based Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS). CSIS recently named Christensen the latest holder of its prestigious Pritzker Chair.
Christensen was outlining to host H. Andrew Schwartz his concerns that the Trump administration's planned tariffs and related economic measures directed at U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific region may jeopardize urgently necessary collaboration on other fronts.
His comments (07:22 – 07:50 in the program) are part of the larger conversation, "What Is the End Point of U.S.-China Competition?", in which he and Schwartz discuss new ways of framing the U.S.-China strategic competition. The conversation also touches on Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.
Listen to the complete podcast below:
