The Naive Approach to China in the First Year of the Bush Administration

U.S.-China relations and East Asian affairs have evolved significantly over the last two decades. Nonetheless, many of the same questions continue to challenge policymakers in Washington. How should the United States grapple with a rising China? How should it engage militarily and economically in Asia? How does China factor into the United States’ Asia policy?

In a new book, Hand-Off: The Foreign Policy George W. Bush Passed to Barack Obama, National Security Council experts from the Bush administration comment on declassified transition memoranda that provide a firsthand look at the foreign policy the Bush administration turned over to President Obama. Join Paul Haenle as he sits down with three other members of the Bush administration’s National Security Council—Michael J. Green, Meghan O'Sullivan, and Faryar Shirzad—to discuss the evolution of U.S. policy toward China and East Asia.