The prospect of a lasting U.S.-China security rivalry preoccupies policymakers and scholars alike.  In a major new volume, “Meeting China Halfway: How to Defuse the Emerging U.S.-China Rivalry” (Georgetown University Press, 2015), Lyle Goldstein of the U.S. Naval War College contends that both countries have failed to pursue creative approaches that could limit the potential for such rivalry and enable a more cooperative global and regional future.  Drawing on a wide array of Chinese sources and on the history of Sino-American relations over the past two centuries, Professor Goldstein proposes ten “cooperation spirals” that would enable lasting accommodation between both countries.

By exploring the possibilities of defusing long-standing geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China, Professor Goldstein contends that future Sino-American relations can diverge significantly from widely held assessments in international relations theory and in foreign policy circles.  His remarks will be followed by commentaries from two prominent U.S. policy practitioners and questions from the audience.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event.  Follow @BrookingsChina to join the conversation on Twitter.

Introduction and Moderator

Jonathan D. Pollack, Senior Fellow, John L. Thornton China Center, The Brookings Institution

Keynote Remarks

Lyle Goldstein, Associate Professor, China Maritime Studies Institute, U.S. Naval War College 

Commentaries

J. Stapleton Roy, U.S. Ambassador (1991-95); Founding Director, Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Rear Admiral Michael McDevitt (Ret.), Former Commandant, National War College; Senior Fellow, Center for Naval Analyses