US-China relations have always been somewhat complex. Tensions between the two countries have increased recently due to several factors. This week, on Encounter, it's an update on US/China relations. Guest host, Rick Pantaleo's guests are Yun Sun, Senior Fellow and Co-Director of the East Asia Program and Director of the China Program, at the Stimson Center, and Dean Cheng, Non-resident Senior Fellow, at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies and a Senior Adviser at the US Institute of Peace.

Andrea Kendall-Taylor, senior fellow and director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), and Will Pomeranz, director of the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center, discuss the state of play in Ukraine on the anniversary of Russia’s invasion with host Carol Castiel. The war will continue for an unspecified length of time, but Kendall-Taylor says it reflects a “strategic failure” for Moscow and Pomeranz says that “the Western alliance has held...

Peter Lewis, Professor of African Studies at Johns Hopkins University and Ebenezer Obadare, Senior Fellow for Africa Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, discuss with host Carol Castiel what’s at stake in the upcoming Nigerian presidential and parliamentary elections and whether insurgent Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi, can mobilize his supporters, defy the odds, and emerge victorious.

On this US politics edition of Encounter, Jim Kessler, vice president for policy at Third Way, and John Fortier, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Carol Castiel to discuss the animated tone and substance of US President Joe Biden’s second State of the Union address to Congress, which emphasized the administration’s legislative achievements over the past two years and provided a blueprint for the remainder of his term, among other political issues facing the divided...

Despite calls for police reform legislation after the tragic death of George Floyd in May 2020, negotiations over the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act collapsed in the last Congress. Now, Tyre Nichols, a young Black man, has become the most recent victim of excessive police violence, this time in Memphis, Tennessee. Host Carol Castiel talks with law enforcement experts Chuck Wexler, Executive Director, Police Executive Research Forum and Ganesha M. Martin, former director of the Baltimore...

Is the United States playing catch-up with China and Russia in Africa or just making good on commitments from the recent US – Africa Leaders Summit? Rama Yade, Director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council and Michelle Gavin, former US Ambassador to Botswana and senior fellow in Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, discuss with host Carol Castiel the timing and significance of trips by two senior US cabinet officials --Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and US Ambassador...

US President Joe Biden met with his North American counterparts from Canada and Mexico in what has been called the three amigos Summit or North American Leaders Summit in Mexico City in early January. Luz Maria de la Mora Sanchez, former Mexican Vice Minister of foreign trade and Eric Farnsworth, Vice President of the Americas Society and Council of the Americas, discuss the significance and takeaways of this trilateral meeting with host Carol Castiel.

On this US politics edition of Encounter vice president for policy at Third Way, Jim Kessler and American Enterprise Institute resident scholar, John Fortier spar over the nature and direction of the Republican-led House of Representatives of the 118th Congress after concessions California Congressman Kevin McCarthy made to a group of right-wing hardliners in exchange for their vote to elect him Speaker of the House of Representatives after a historic 15th round of voting.

On this annual edition of Encounter, Georgetown professors Anthony (Tony) Arend and Amb. Mark Lagon talk with host Carol Castiel about the most pressing national security and foreign policy challenges facing the United States in 2023. Will the new Republican-led House of Representatives hamper US President Joe Biden’s ability to mobilize robust financial support for Ukraine against Russia? In addition to the rise of China, what other long-term geostrategic priorities require US leadership?

From the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion in the United States, to the release of a comprehensive report from the select committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, host Carol Castiel reviews the stories that dominated the headlines in 2022 and will likely carry over to 2023 with Michael Williams, Washington correspondent for Project 10 TV Australia and Tracy Wilkinson,...

On this year-end edition of Encounter, host Carol Castiel presents excerpts from our most memorable programs in 2022. From holding Russia accountable for the crime of aggression and war crimes in Ukraine, elections in Brazil and the United States, to the African Union brokered ceasefire in Ethiopia and the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit, we present key highlights from 2022.

On this year-end US politics edition of Encounter, Jim Kessler, executive vice president for policy at Third Way, and John Fortier, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute discuss the major issues facing the lame-duck session of Congress with host Carol Castiel as well as the mini-revolt on the right that threatens to imperil Kevin McCarthy’s bid to be Speaker of the House of Representatives when Republicans take control of the lower chamber in early January 2023.

Joseph Sany, vice president of the Africa Center at the US Institute of Peace (USIP) and David Shinn, former US Ambassador to Ethiopia and Burkina Faso preview the US-Africa Leaders Summit with host Carol Castiel. Hosted by US President Joe Biden, the confab aims to bring together high-level officials and business leaders from both continents to strengthen US – Africa trade and investment ties and foster cooperation on shared global priorities such as climate change, food security, pandemic...

David Makovsky, distinguished fellow and director of the Project on Arab Israeli relations at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and Natan Sachs, director of the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, discuss with host Carol Castiel why Israelis voted to return former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Bibi) to power along, with an alliance of far-right politicians, and the domestic and global ramifications of this turn of events.

From US-Saudi relations to the politics of the World Cup in Qatar, Professor Ellen Laipson, director of the “Center for Security Policy Studies” at George Mason University and Hussein Ibish, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, analyze several major Mideast stories with host Carol Castiel.

On November 2, 2022, the Ethiopian government and leaders of the Tigray Region, who have been fighting for two years, signed a ceasefire agreement brokered by the African Union. Ambassador Tibor Nagy, former assistant secretary of state for African Affairs and Donald Booth, former Ambassador to Ethiopia and special envoy to Sudan and South Sudan, discuss the significance of this critical step toward enduring peace and the promises and perils ahead in its implementation with host Carol Castiel.

In a stunning reversal of expectations, many Republican candidates underperformed their Democratic opponents in several key congressional and statewide races in the November 8 midterm elections. Jim Kessler, vice president for policy at Third Way, and John Fortier, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, discuss with host Carol Castiel the primary factors which minimized losses for the Democrats, from former President Trump’s role in endorsing flawed candidates to the...

In one of the most anticipated and hotly contested elections in Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva defeats sitting President Jair Bolsonaro by a slim margin. Eric Farnsworth, Vice President of the Americas Society and Council of the Americas, and Bruna Santos, senior advisor at the Brazil Institute of the Wilson Center, discuss with host Carol Castiel the domestic and international challenges and opportunities facing President-elect “Lula.”

China experts David Shullman at the Atlantic Council, and Carla Freeman at the US Institute of Peace, talk with host Carol Castiel about the implications of the recently concluded 20th Communist Party Congress, which awarded Xi Jinping an unprecedented third term as Party head.

Host Carol Castiel speaks with former British diplomat Nicholas Westcott, now director of the Royal African Society, and American international affairs analyst, Calvin Dark, co-founder of RC Communications, about the future of the British monarchy overseas.

Veteran foreign policy journalist, Laura Rozen, and director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute, Alex Vatanka, join host Carol Castiel to discuss what triggered the recent women-led anti-regime protests in Iran and brutal crackdown by Tehran.

On the 30th anniversary of the Rome General Peace Accords, which ended the Mozambican civil war, experts Alex Vines of the London-based Chatham House, and Anne Pitcher,of the University of Michigan join Carol Castiel to reflect on progress and setbacks in this strategic southern Africa country.

The US Supreme Court begins a new term on October 3rd. Carol Castiel talks with Carrie Severino, president of the conservative Judicial Crisis Network and Elliot Mincberg, senior counsel at the liberal People for the American Way, about the makeup and direction of the high court.

Andrea Kendall-Taylor of the Center for a New American Security, & Will Pomeranz of the Wilson Center, discuss with Carol Castiel the significance of Ukraine’s successful counteroffensives against Russia & Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intention to call up reservists & annex parts of Ukraine.

Carol Castiel talks with Jim Kessler of Third Way, and John Fortier of the American Enterprise Institute about the unusual political landscape in advance of the 2022 midterm elections. They spar over the issues driving the electorate to the polls and prospects for both Republican and Democrats.