In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik speaks once again with Ilan Berman, Senior Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council, about disinformation, public diplomacy, and media narratives — specifically in the context of U.S.-China relations. Guest Biography Ilan Berman is Senior Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC. An expert on regional security in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation, he has consulted...

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik interviews Craig Singleton about the People's Liberation Army (PLA), risk of strategic overstretch, and ways the United States can exploit this possibility. Guest Biography Craig Singleton is a senior fellow at FDD, where he analyzes great power competition with China. He previously spent more than a decade serving in a series of sensitive national security roles with the U.S. government, where he primarily focused on East Asia....

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik interviews Ian Easton about the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party, its impact on Beijing’s foreign policy, and what it means for the United States. Guest Biography Ian Easton is a senior director at the Project 2049 Institute and author of The Chinese Invasion Threat: Taiwan's Defense and American Strategy in Asia. He previously served as a visiting fellow at the Japan Institute for International Affairs (JIIA) in Tokyo and...

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik interviews Nury Turkel about the Chinese Communist Party's genocide in Xinjiang, the nature of the atrocities, and what it means for the United States. Guest Biography Nury Turkel is the first U.S.-educated Uyghur-American lawyer, foreign policy expert, and human rights advocate. He is the recent author of No Escape: The True Story of China's Genocide of the Uyghurs. He was born in a re-education camp at the height of China’s...

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik interviews Derek Grossman about the recent security agreement between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Solomon Islands, what it means for the United States and our Indo-Pacific allies, and what America should do moving forward. Guest Biography Derek Grossman is a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation focused on a range of national security policy and Indo-Pacific security issues. He closely tracks intensifying...

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik speaks with Dr. Joshua Eisenman about China-Africa relations, Beijing's strategic interests in the continent, and what it means for the United States. Author Biography Joshua Eisenman is an Associate Professor of Politics at the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame. Eisenman has been a visiting faculty member at Fudan University (summer 2017), Peking University (summer 2016), and NYU–Shanghai (2011–12)....

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik speaks with Dr. Jonathan Ward about the strategic alignment between Russia and China, what it means for our allies and partners across Eurasia, and how Washington should respond. Resources from the Episode Read Jonathan’s book, China’s Vision of Victory Check out Jonathan’s consulting company, Atlas Organization Watch Jonathan’s media hits Read the latest issue of AFPC’s Indo-Pacific Monitor Guest Biography Jonathan Ward...

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik speaks with Jon Pelson, author of Wireless Wars: China's Dangerous Domination of 5G and How We're Fighting Back. The conversation covers Huawei's rise to global dominance of telecommunications, the national security risks that Huawei and other Chinese tech companies pose to democracies like the United States, and how America can regain its footing in its technological competition with the Chinese Communist Party. Author...

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik speaks with Victoria Coates, Distinguished Fellow in Strategic Studies at the American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC), about Russia's war threats against Ukraine, the related energy politics of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and what the road ahead could look like. Guest Biography Victoria Coates joined the American Foreign Policy Council as a Distinguished Fellow in Strategic Studies in January 2022. Coates works on regional issues...

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik speaks with Ambassador Samuel Brownback, the former Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, about the role of religious freedom in foreign policy, the tension between human rights and geopolitics, and global hotspots of religious persecution. Guest Biography Samuel Brownback served as the United States Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom from 2018 to 2021. Previously, Brownback served as the...

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik speaks with Josh Rogin, Washington Post foreign policy columnist and CNN political analyst, about the tectonic shifts in America's China policy, how Republicans and Democrats are engaging these shifting dynamics, and what the future of US-China relations could look like. Guest Biography Josh Rogin is a Washington Post foreign-policy columnist and CNN political analyst. He has reported for Bloomberg View, the Daily Beast, Foreign...

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik speaks with Ilan Berman, Senior Vice President of the American Foreign Policy  Council, about America's and China's competing interests in the Middle East, the fallout of America's withdrawal from Afghanistan, and how the  broader region views the burgeoning competition between Washington and Beijing. Guest Biography Ilan Berman is Senior Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council  in Washington, DC. An expert on...

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik speaks with U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) about the Biden administration's foreign policy with China (as well as Russia, Iran, and  Afghanistan), and what a "peace through strength" approach would look like instead. Guest Biography Ted  Cruz has served as the junior United States senator for Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from 2003 to 2008. He is currently a member of...

In this episode of AFPC's GREAT POWER PODCAST,  host Michael Sobolik speaks with Michael Schuman, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub, about the evolution of China's strategic culture throughout its dynastic era - and how it shapes the Chinese Communist Party's practice of foreign policy today. Guest biography Michael  Schuman the author of "Superpower Interrupted: The Chinese History of  the World." He is also a contributor to The Atlantic and a columnist...

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host AFPC fellow in Indo-Pacific Studies Michael Sobolik speaks with Russell Hsiao, Executive Director of the Global Taiwan Institute, about the history of America's complex relationship with Taiwan, China's ambitions to conquer the island, and the political fate of Taiwan in the coming years. Guest Biography Russell  Hsiao is the executive director of GTI, senior fellow at The Jamestown  Foundation, and adjunct fellow at Pacific Forum. He previously...

In this inaugural episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik speaks with Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian of Axios about the way Washington thinks about competition with  Beijing, how China views the contest, and where the bilateral  relationship is heading in the next few years. Guest Biography: Bethany  Allen-Ebrahimian is the China reporter at Axios. Before joining Axios,  Bethany served as the lead reporter for the International Consortium of  Investigative Journalists' China Cables...