Strategy and Statecraft: U.S.-China Competition in a Fractured World

Overview

The world is experiencing one of the most significant arms build-ups since World War II, led by China and the United States. China, described as a potential U.S. partner less than a decade ago, is now the U.S.’s primary military competitor. Incentives to greater economic integration and technology cooperation are now giving way to the possibility of economic or technological decoupling.

The underpinnings of global security and prosperity are the subject of a high stakes contest for who sets the rules of the future. In this environment, CSIS is continuing its effort to examine strategy and statecraft, with the 2023-2024 course considering U.S.-China relations in a fractured world. In a year-long program, Strategy and Statecraft Seminar Fellows will engage with world-leading experts and policy practitioners to understand more deeply the changes taking place in today’s world and the way policymakers in Washington and other foreign capitals perceive the situation.

Over the course, participants will be pushed to consider a range of important questions that will shape the coming decades. Will the 21st century become, as the 2022 National Security Strategy describes, “a competition between democracies and autocracies”? How will today’s world-leading economies—largely democratic and free-market—deal with rising competition from socialist or state-directed economies? On what issues will technology collaboration be possible, and what issues will require clear separation? What are the implications for U.S. and global prosperity if there is increasing decoupling? With the global south set to rise rapidly in population and economic power over the coming decades, how will existing North-South divides influence the future trajectory of the world?

Curriculum

The Strategy and Statecraft Fellowship will comprise monthly dinners on key topics in foreign policy, national security, and strategic thought. Dinners will feature participation from current and former senior government officials as well as experts representing diverse perspectives and backgrounds.

The program will conclude with the Strategy and Statecraft Summit in January 2024 at a venue outside of Washington, D.C. The summit will be an intensive multi-day experience, combining an extended war game or simulation, scenario-based discussions, and lectures to tie together the program’s themes and provide Fellows an opportunity to apply the program’s lessons in a professionally relevant manner.

The launch of the Strategy and Statecraft Seminar was made possible by support from Dr. M.J. Chung, in honor of Dr. Henry Kissinger. Dr. Chung has shared with us an essay about Dr. Kissinger, which can be seen here.