The Trialogue

This week, our guest is Akram Umarov, First Vice Rector at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy and Deputy Director of the Institute for Advanced International Studies in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. We discuss Central Asian politics, Uzbekistan’s attitude toward the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the country’s relations with Russia, China, and the USA, among other subjects.Time Stamps:00:01:00 Fluency in four languages as a child in Samarkand00:02:54 Graduate studies in the West00:06:43 Institute for Advanced International Studies00:09:47 Japan’s interest in Central Asia00:11:30 Relations among Central Asian countries00:18:54 Shanghai Cooperation Organization00:24:09 Uzbekistan’s relations with Russia00:36:26 Uzbekistan’s relations with China00:45:03 Will China and Russia compete in Central Asia?00:48:03 Uzbekistan’s relations with the US*The Trialogue Podcast is hosted by the Stimson Center and produced by University FM.**The first twelve episodes of this podcast were published by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week, our guest is Stephen Wertheim, Senior Fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. We discuss the origins of “isolationism,” historical hypotheticals, the United States’ relative interests in the Middle East, Europe and Asia, Ukraine and Taiwan, and an “America first” policy for the Democratic party, among other subjects.Time Stamps:00:00:45 PhD in history and pivot to policy00:07:38 Charges of “isolationism” from the 1930s through Trump00:15:54 Should the US have done anything differently during WWII or the Cold War?00:19:43 The collapse of the Communist bloc and American primacy unbound00:25:00 Need to draw down in the Middle East00:26:48 Let Europeans take greater charge of their own security00:36:00 How should the US react to the rise of China00:41:12 Taiwan and Ukraine00:51:47 An “America first” policy for the Democratic party*The Trialogue Podcast is hosted by the Stimson Center and produced by University FM.**The first twelve episodes of this podcast were published by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week, our guest is Dmitry Novikov, Deputy Head of the School of International Relations at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Russia. We discuss the difficulties of being an Americanist in Moscow, the sources of US-Russian conflict, and Russia’s future as a “Eurasian” power, among other subjects.Time Stamps:00:00:38 What is like being an Americanist in Moscow right now?00:04:22 Russian perceptions of US domestic politics00:08:44 Russia’s “realist” understanding of international relations00:10:51 Russia’s efforts to join the West00:20:05 Russia as a Eurasian state00:23:20 When did Russia begin to pivot East?00:28:08 Russia as logistics corridor, security provider, and source of raw materials00:39:17 Need for stabilization with the West00:44:00 A new Russian identity?00:49:13 The growing importance of Islam in Russia00:53:00 The Cold War “lessons” that drive US and Russian elites*The Trialogue Podcast is hosted by the Stimson Center and produced by University FM.**The first twelve episodes of this podcast were published by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

My guest today is DA Wei, Professor of International Relations and Director of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University. We discuss Wei’s time at CICIR and Tsinghua, his recent visits to the US and Russia, Taiwan and the South China Sea, and the potential positives of partial decoupling, among other subjects.Time Stamps:00:00:49 What is CICIR00:04:13 Tsinghua’s Center for International Security and Strategy00:09:03 Impressions from recent trip to US00:11:16 Potential consequences of Harris or Trump presidencies for China00:14:26 Is chaos in the US good for China?00:15:49 Sources of US-China competition00:21:29 Impressions from recent trip to Russia00:26:15 Comparison of US-China and US-Russia relations00:30:35 Consequences of COVID00:33:06 Potential positives of decoupling00:40:0 Taiwan and South China Sea*The Trialogue Podcast is hosted by the Stimson Center and produced by University FM.**The first twelve episodes of this podcast were published by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week, our guest is Charles Kupchan, Professor of International Affairs at Georgetown University and Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. We discuss Charlie’s first visits to China and the Soviet Union, naiveté and NATO expansion in the 1990s, the dangers of the current conflict with Russia and China, the possibility of a new American foreign policy paradigm, global interdependence, and an endgame in Ukraine.Time Stamps:00:01:06 First trip to China in 198000:06:45 Trip to the Soviet Union and Poland in the early 80s00:10:13 Naiveté in the 1990s00:15:23 The dangers of current conflict with Russia and China00:19:44 Pivot to Asia?00:32:31 New US foreign policy paradigm?00:43:10 Global interdependence00:50:02 Maintain channels of communication with Russia and China00:52:20 Endgame in Ukraine*The Trialogue Podcast is hosted by the Stimson Center and produced by University FM.**The first twelve episodes of this podcast were published by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week, our guest is Alexander Pilyasov, a professor of geography at Lomonosov Moscow State University and the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. We discuss the Russian Arctic, cooperation in the region with China, and growing competition with the United States. We recorded the conversation in Belgrade, following a “Trialogue” on American, Russian, and Chinese interests in the Arctic.Time Stamps:00:01:13 The Arctic in the Russian economy00:17:38 Life in the Russian Arctic00:23:56 Energy export from the Russia Arctic00:26:52 Sanctions00:32:41 China in the Arctic00:40:29 Growing competition with the US in the Arctic*The Trialogue Podcast is hosted by the Stimson Center and produced by University FM.**The first twelve episodes of this podcast were published by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week, our guest is ZHAO Hai, Director of the International Politics Program in the National Institute for Global Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). We discuss US policy toward China, Sino-Russian relations, the war in Ukraine, and China’s vision of global order.Time Stamps:00:01:00 Zhao’s family connections to the PRC Navy00:06:37 Zhao’s graduate study in Chicago00:09:26 Chinese think tanks and the function of CASS00:13:11 China’s reaction to Trump00:22:57 China’s reaction to Biden00:30:22 Sino-Russian relations before the Ukraine war00:34:18 The war in Ukraine00:47:52 China’s vision of global order*The Trialogue Podcast is hosted by the Stimson Center and produced by University FM.**The first twelve episodes of this podcast were published by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week, our guest is Karl Eikenberry, a retired lieutenant general in the U.S. Army, whose many titles include the defense attaché at the U.S. Embassy in China, Commander of the Coalition Forces in Afghanistan, and U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan. Because General Eikenberry has had such a long and fascinating career and often occupied key roles at important pivot points in U.S. policy, we decided to devote the whole interview to an examination of his biography.Time Stamps:00:01:04 Childhood experience of the Cold War00:06:42 West Point00:10:21 Korea in the 70s00:14:10 China in the 80s and 90s00:35:11 NATO and the collapse of the Communist bloc00:42:14 The Pentagon on 9/1100:44:02 Afghanistan00:51:51 NATO and Putin’s Munich speech00:54:28 Afghanistan01:10:34 Ukraine*The Trialogue Podcast is hosted by the Stimson Center and produced by University FM.**The first twelve episodes of this podcast were published by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week, our guest is Andrey Kortunov, the founding director of the Russian International Affairs Council. Time Stamps:00:01:00 Kortunov’s career before RIAC00:09:22 RIAC’s origins and evolution00:18:36 RIAC’s work on sanctions00:25:40 BRICS and other international institutions00:33:29 China-India relations00:36:06 Russia-China relations00:47:00 Russia-Western relations*The Trialogue Podcast is hosted by the Stimson Center and produced by University FM.**The first twelve episodes of this podcast were published by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week, we discuss China-US-Russia relations with Xiang Lanxin, Distinguished Fellow at the Stimson Center and Professor Emeritus of International History and Politics at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva.Time Stamps:00:01:17 The Xiang family’s four centuries in the Chinese military00:07:38 Lanxin’s experience during the Cultural Revolution00:18:00 Graduate school in the United States and the start of an academic career00:23:01 A history of Western misperceptions of China00:34:05 The recent decline in US-China relations00:39:39 Russia’s relations with the West00:47:55 Russia-China relations00:51:56 Taiwan*The Trialogue Podcast is hosted by the Stimson Center and produced by University FM.**The first twelve episodes of this podcast were published by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.