The Lessons of Reagan’s Pipeline Crisis for Competing with China

Co-Authored with Professor William Inboden, Executive Director of the Clements Center for National Security President Joe Biden promised to restore good relations with allies after the friction and acrimony of the Trump years. It is one thing to avoid antagonizing allies, as President Donald Trump seemed to relish. But mobilizing them in a common causeContinue reading “The Lessons of Reagan’s Pipeline Crisis for Competing with China”

Oh Lord, for Alliance!

Shields of the Republic: The Triumph and Peril of America’s Alliancesby Mira Rapp-Hooper (Harvard University Press, 272 pp., $28) American power is based on a paradox. There has never been a more prosperous and powerful country in the history of the world, but the security and prosperity of the United States depend on the cooperationContinue reading “Oh Lord, for Alliance!”

Much Ado (and to Do) About Illiberalism

America  has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests.” This Henry Kissinger quote is a perennial favorite of American realists, informing decades of American grand strategy. In recent years, from threatening to withdraw from NATO to praising Kim Jung-Un in search of a blockbuster nuclear deal, the Trump Administration ruthlessly implemented this adage, with theContinue reading “Much Ado (and to Do) About Illiberalism”

Security Concerns with China Limiting Student Learning

The college campus has become a battleground between the United States and China. Donations, research funding, and international students give colleges a much-needed financial and enrollment boost, but the connection to the Chinese government can also threaten academic freedom and, on some occasions, national security. Fundamentally, universities exist to serve students and the public interest,Continue reading “Security Concerns with China Limiting Student Learning”

Why Anti-Military Sentiment on Campus is Often Misplaced

Co-Authored with James Mismash Skepticism toward the military is easy to find on college campuses like the University of Texas at Austin; even in the absence of a nationally omnipresent anti-war movement as in the 1960s, anti-military student groups have thrived in recent years. However, college students who desire a just and sustainable global future would beContinue reading “Why Anti-Military Sentiment on Campus is Often Misplaced”

How to Wage an Ideological Conflict with China

Both the Trump and Biden presidential campaigns vied to outdo the other in being “tough on China.” The Trump administration declassified an intelligence assessment that the Chinese Communist Party favored Biden over Trump, and Biden responded with harsh words for both President Trump and Chairman Xi. While the House and the Senate are slated to be sharply divided inContinue reading “How to Wage an Ideological Conflict with China”