Past Events

On Wednesday, November 16, the Asia Policy Program is hosting Susan Shirk, Research Professor and Chair of the 21st Century China Center at the University of California San Diego and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs, to discuss her upcoming release, Overreach: How China Derailed its Peaceful Rise. This talk will be moderated by Dr. Sheena Chestnut Greitens, director of the Asia Policy Program and Associate Professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. The event's location is to be determined. The Asia Policy Program is a joint effort of the Clements Center for National Security and the Strauss Center for International Security and Law. 

For decades, China's rise to power was characterized by its reassurance that this rise would be peaceful. After Mao's death in 1976, China's leaders adopted a restrained approach to foreign policy. They determined that any threat to their power, and that of the Chinese Communist Party, came not from abroad but from within--a conclusion cemented by the 1989 Tiananmen crisis. To facilitate the country's inexorable economic ascendence, and to prevent a backlash, they reassured the outside world of China's peaceful intentions.

Then, as Susan L. Shirk shows in this illuminating, sobering, and utterly persuasive new book, something changed. China went from fragile superpower to global heavyweight, threatening Taiwan as well as its neighbors in the South China Sea, tightening its grip on Hong Kong, and openly challenging the United States for preeminence not just economically and technologically but militarily. China began to overreach. Combining her decades of research and experience, Shirk, one of the world's most respected experts on Chinese politics, argues that we are now fully embroiled in a new cold war.

To explain what happened, Shirk pries open the "black box" of China's political system and looks at what derailed its peaceful rise. As she shows, the shift toward confrontation began in the mid-2000s under the mild-mannered Hu Jintao, first among equals in a collective leadership. As China's economy boomed, especially after the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, Hu and the other leaders lost restraint, abetting aggression toward the outside world and unchecked domestic social control. When Xi Jinping took power in 2012, he capitalized on widespread official corruption and open splits in the leadership to make the case for more concentrated power at the top. In the decade following, and to the eve of the 20th CCP Congress when he intends to claim a third term, Xi has accumulated greater power than any leader since Mao. Those who implement Xi's directives compete to outdo one another in fervor, provoking an even greater global backlash and stoking xenophobia within China on a scale not seen since the Cultural Revolution.

Here is a devastatingly lucid portrait of China today. Shirk's extensive interviews and meticulous analysis reveal the dynamics driving overreach. To counter it, she argues, the worst mistake the rest of the world, and the United States in particular, can make is to overreact. Understanding the domestic roots of China's actions will enable us to avoid the mistakes that could lead to war.

BIOGRAPHY

Susan Shirk is a research professor and chair of the 21st Century China Center. She is one of the most influential experts working on U.S.-China relations and Chinese politics. She is also director emeritus of the University of California’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC).

Susan Shirk first visited China in 1971 and has been teaching, researching and engaging China diplomatically ever since. From 1997-2000, Dr. Shirk served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs, with responsibility for China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mongolia.  

Shirk’s book China: Fragile Superpower helped frame the policy debate on China in the U.S. and other countries. Her other publications include The Political Logic of Economic Reform in China; How China Opened its Door; Competitive Comrades: Career Incentives and Student Strategies in China; and her edited book, Changing Media, Changing China. Her current book project is Overreach: How China’s Domestic Politics Derailed its Peaceful Rise. Her articles have appeared in leading academic publications in the fields of political science, international relations and China studies, and her views on a range of issues relating to modern Chinese politics are highly sought.

Shirk co-chairs a task force of China experts that issued its second report “Course Correction: Toward an Effective and Sustainable China Policy,” in February 2019. She is also co-chair of the UC San Diego Forum on U.S.-China Relations, the first ongoing high-level forum focused entirely on the U.S.-China relationship.

On Wednesday, November 16, the Strauss Center joins the Texas Law Veterans Association and the Texas Veterans in Business in hosting the first talk of its inaugural Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Policy Week. Join us in hearing Alex Pruden, CEO of blockchain startup Aleo, discuss blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies.

Are cryptocurrencies the next frontier in innovation or a threat to national security?  How will decentralized finance, the metaverse, and other “Web3” applications affect counterterrorism, sanctions, and intelligence gathering?  Is Bitcoin a danger to the climate or a better way to finance green energy?  Strauss Center experts will consider these and other questions during the inaugural Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Policy Week.

This event is open to UT students with priority given to members of the Texas Law Veterans Association and the Texas Veterans in Business. RSVP is required. Lunch will be served. To RSVP, contact Susan Crane at scrane@austin.utexas.edu.

On Tuesday, November 15, the Clements Center for National Security, the Strauss Center for International Security and Law, the LBJ School of Public Affairs, the UT-Austin Department of History and the America in the World Consortium will host William Inboden, Executive Director of the Clements Center, for a book talk on his upcoming release The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink. Join us at 12:15 pm in MAI 212, the Main Building at the University of Texas at Austin. 

William Inboden is Executive Director and William Powers, Jr. Chair at the Clements Center for National Security at the University of Texas-Austin. He also serves as Associate Professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, Distinguished Scholar at the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, and Editor-in-Chief of the Texas National Security Review. Inboden’s other current roles include Associate with the National Intelligence Council, member of the CIA’s Historical Advisory Panel, member of the State Department’s Historical Advisory Council, Senior Fellow with the Trinity Forum, and member of the Advisory Board for the Vandenberg Coalition. Previously he served as Senior Director for Strategic Planning on the National Security Council at the White House, where he worked on a range of foreign policy issues including the National Security Strategy, strategic forecasting, democracy and governance, contingency planning, counter-radicalization, and multilateral institutions and initiatives. Inboden also worked at the Department of State as a Member of the Policy Planning Staff and a Special Advisor in the Office of International Religious Freedom, and has worked as a staff member in both the United States Senate and the House of Representatives.

Inboden has also served as head of the London-based Legatum Institute, and as a Civitas Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and his commentary has appeared in numerous outlets including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Politico, Weekly Standard, NPR, CNN, and BBC. He has lectured widely in academic and policy settings, testified before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee and the US Congress Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, and received numerous research and professional development fellowships. Inboden is the author of Religion and American Foreign Policy, 1945-1960: The Soul of Containment (Cambridge University Press), co-editor of The Last Card: Inside George W. Bush’s Decision to Surge in Iraq (Cornell University Press), and has published numerous articles and book chapters on national security, American foreign policy, and American history. His book on the Reagan Administration’s national security policy, titled The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan in the White House and the World, is forthcoming in 2022 with Dutton, a PenguinRandomHouse imprint. Professor Inboden has received multiple teaching awards including recognition as a “Texas 10” by the Texas Exes Alumni Association, selection as “Lecturer of the Year” at the LBJ School, and his classes Presidential Decision-making in National Security and Ethics & International Relations have been voted as "Best Class in the LBJ School" and “Class Most Likely to Challenge Your Assumptions.” Inboden received his Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in history from Yale University, and his A.B. in history with honors from Stanford University. He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and two sons, and is a member of Redeemer Presbyterian Church.

Registration is not required for this event. For more information, contact Elizabeth Doughtie at elizabeth.doughtie@utexas.edu.

On Tuesday, November 15, the Clements Center for National Security, the Strauss Center for International Security and Law, the LBJ School of Public Affairs, the UT-Austin Department of History and the America in the World Consortium will host William Inboden, Executive Director of the Clements Center, for a book talk on his upcoming release The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink. Join us at 12:15 pm in MAI 212, the Main Building at the University of Texas at Austin. 

William Inboden is Executive Director and William Powers, Jr. Chair at the Clements Center for National Security at the University of Texas-Austin. He also serves as Associate Professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, Distinguished Scholar at the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, and Editor-in-Chief of the Texas National Security Review. Inboden’s other current roles include Associate with the National Intelligence Council, member of the CIA’s Historical Advisory Panel, member of the State Department’s Historical Advisory Council, Senior Fellow with the Trinity Forum, and member of the Advisory Board for the Vandenberg Coalition. Previously he served as Senior Director for Strategic Planning on the National Security Council at the White House, where he worked on a range of foreign policy issues including the National Security Strategy, strategic forecasting, democracy and governance, contingency planning, counter-radicalization, and multilateral institutions and initiatives. Inboden also worked at the Department of State as a Member of the Policy Planning Staff and a Special Advisor in the Office of International Religious Freedom, and has worked as a staff member in both the United States Senate and the House of Representatives.

Inboden has also served as head of the London-based Legatum Institute, and as a Civitas Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and his commentary has appeared in numerous outlets including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Politico, Weekly Standard, NPR, CNN, and BBC. He has lectured widely in academic and policy settings, testified before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee and the US Congress Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, and received numerous research and professional development fellowships. Inboden is the author of Religion and American Foreign Policy, 1945-1960: The Soul of Containment (Cambridge University Press), co-editor of The Last Card: Inside George W. Bush’s Decision to Surge in Iraq (Cornell University Press), and has published numerous articles and book chapters on national security, American foreign policy, and American history. His book on the Reagan Administration’s national security policy, titled The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan in the White House and the World, is forthcoming in 2022 with Dutton, a PenguinRandomHouse imprint. Professor Inboden has received multiple teaching awards including recognition as a “Texas 10” by the Texas Exes Alumni Association, selection as “Lecturer of the Year” at the LBJ School, and his classes Presidential Decision-making in National Security and Ethics & International Relations have been voted as "Best Class in the LBJ School" and “Class Most Likely to Challenge Your Assumptions.” Inboden received his Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in history from Yale University, and his A.B. in history with honors from Stanford University. He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and two sons, and is a member of Redeemer Presbyterian Church.

Registration is not required for this event. For more information, contact Elizabeth Doughtie at elizabeth.doughtie@utexas.edu.

On Thursday, November 10, the Clements Center for National Security, the UT-Austin Department of History and the Naval ROTC at UT-Austin will host Steven McGregor for a book talk on his recent release with Brendan Simms, The Silver Waterfall: How America Won the War in the Pacific at Midway. Join us at 12:15 pm in RLP 1.302B, Patton Hall. 

Steven McGregor deployed to the Sunni Triangle of Death as an infantry officer in the 101st Airborne Division. There he was awarded the Combat Infantryman’s Badge and the Purple Heart. After his military service, he completed post-graduate studies in History at the University of Cambridge. He now lives in England with his wife and three children. This is his first book.

Registration is not required for this event. For more information, contact Elizabeth Doughtie at elizabeth.doughtie@utexas.edu.

On Thursday, November 10, the Clements Center for National Security, UT-Austin Department of History and the Naval ROTC at UT-Austin will host Steven McGregor for a book talk on his recent release with Brendan Simms, The Silver Waterfall: How America Won the War in the Pacific at Midway.

The LBJ School of Public Affairs Center for the Study of Race and Democracy and The University of Texas at Austin's Department of History bring you a conversation with Dr. Jeremi Suri and Dr. Peniel Joseph as they discuss their new books, Civil War by Other Means and The Third Reconstruction.

Carlos Felipe Balcazar (CV / Paper) is a PhD Candidate in the Wilf Family Department of Politics at New York University, where he specializes in International Political Economy (IPE) and Political Economy more generally. His research examines how international economic competition shapes domestic political outcomes, specifically: the political power of organized labor; populism and policy against globalization; and democratization. 

Balcazar_Felipe_Headshot.jpg

"I am PhD candidate at New York University’s Department of Politics and a Student Affiliate for the Identities and Ideologies Project. I hold a BA in Economics from Universidad Nacional de Colombia and an MA in Economics from Universidad de los Andes.

My current research focuses on four topics: The effects of automation on the political power of organized labor, and its implications for public policy; The impact of international economic competition on politicians’ incentives to use elite cues and identity politics, and how this shapes policy against globalization; The role of tariffs and redistribution in the link between international trade and democratization, and domestic conflict; The role of citizen learning in the link between climate change and anti-incumbent mobilization, peaceful and otherwise. Methodologically, I use game theory and natural experiments to uncover the mechanisms under which international economic change shapes domestic politics and policy.

Recently I acted as an Organizer for GSIPE Workshop and as the Managing Editor for Economics & Politics. Before graduate school I worked as Research Analyst at the World Bank and as a Research Fellow at the Inter-American Development Bank, doing policy-oriented research on poverty, inequality, education and labor markets. My work has been published at Journal of Development Economics, Economics Letters, Review of Income and Wealth, Journal of Economic Inequality and Higher Education."

On Wednesday, November 9, the Clements Center for National Security and the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies will host Walter Russell Mead, the Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship at Hudson Institute, the Global View Columnist at The Wall Street Journal, for a book talk on his recent release The Arc of A Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People. Join us at 12:15 pm in Bass Lecture Hall, The LBJ School of Public Affairs.

Walter Russell Mead is the Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship at Hudson Institute, the Global View Columnist at The Wall Street Journal and the James Clarke Chace Professor of Foreign Affairs and Humanities at Bard College in New York. He is also a member of Aspen Institute Italy and board member of Aspenia. Before joining Hudson, Mead was a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations as the Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy. He has authored numerous books, including the widely-recognized Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World (Alfred A. Knopf, 2004). Mead’s most recent book is entitled The Arc of A Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People.

Registration is not required for this event. For more information, contact Elizabeth Doughtie at elizabeth.doughtie@utexas.edu.

Policy on the Rocks - Networking with LBJ Faculty, Alumni & Students and Learn About Policy at LBJ

Enjoy informal networking with LBJ faculty, alumni, and students. This is a great opportunity to talk about potential career paths, current events, and trends in your policy area of interest. Light bites will be served.