Great Power Podcast: Recent Episodes
American Foreign Policy Council
Interested in defending America’s interests in an age of great power competition? Join host American Foreign Policy Council Fellow in Indo-Pacific Studies Michael Sobolik as he explores insights from foreign policy experts, journalists, and policymakers to help craft a solid foundation for America’s grand strategy.
In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik chats with Alex Gray, former Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff of the White House National Security Council, about "America First," President Trump's foreign policy, and America's relationship with the People's Republic of China (PRC).
Guest biography
Alexander B. Gray is the Chief Executive Officer of American Global Strategies LLC, an international strategic advisory firm that he co-founded with former U.S. National Security Advisor Robert C. O’Brien. In addition to the day-to-day management of the firm, Mr. Gray’s wide-ranging practice includes the defense, aerospace, maritime, and technology sectors.
Mr. Gray most recently served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff of the White House National Security Council (NSC), where he directed the daily operations of the National Security Advisor’s immediate office, as well as the budget, personnel, and security functions of the NSC.
Previously, he served in the White House as Special Assistant to the President for the Defense Industrial Base at the National Economic Council (NEC), the principal Executive Office of the President (EOP) official responsible for matters impacting the defense and manufacturing industrial base, and as the first-ever Director for Oceania and Indo-Pacific Security at the NSC.
Mr. Gray is a Senior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC).
Resources from the conversation
- Follow Alex on X
- Read Michael's new book, Countering China's Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance
In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik speaks with Geoffrey Cain about Big Tech in America, how these corporate giants have enabled Beijing's rise, and what policymakers should do to reign them in.
Guest biography
Geoffrey Cain is an award-winning foreign correspondent, author, technologist, and scholar of East Asia. His first book, Samsung Rising: The Inside Story of the South Korean Giant That Set Out to Beat Apple and Conquer Tech, from a decade of his coverage of the world’s largest technology conglomerate, was longlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year award, and was named a Cult of Mac best tech book of 2020. His second book, The Perfect Police State, received the citation for the “best non-fiction book on international affairs” in 2021 from the Overseas Press Club.
A former correspondent at The Economist, Cain is a regular commentator in The Wall Street Journal, Time, Foreign Policy, The New Republic and The Nation, a contributing editor at The Mekong Review, and a frequent guest on CNN, MSNBC, BBC and Bloomberg. Cain writes about the ways that technology is upending our lives, communities, governments and businesses. His work takes him to the world’s most authoritarian and far-off places, from inside North Korea to the trans-Siberian railway across Russia, from investigations into genocide in Cambodia to experiments in technological surveillance in China.
Cain is sought out as a consultant on government, business and technology, having advised the World Health Organization, Open Government Partnership, the United Nations humanitarian affairs office, and major multinational corporations and hedge funds. A Fulbright scholar, he holds a master’s with distinction from London’s School of Oriental and African Studies and a bachelor’s at The George Washington University, which he attended on a music scholarship. He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation, a tech think-tank.
Resources from the conversation
- Buy Michael's book, Countering China's Great Game
- Buy Geoffrey's book, The Perfect Police State
- Read Geoffrey's op-eds in The Hilland The Dispatch
- Read Geoffrey's think-piece in American Affairs
In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik chats with Alex Ward about his book The Internationalists, President Biden's foreign policy, and the impact of the 2024 presidential election on global affairs.
Guest biography
Alexander Ward is a national security reporter who covers the White House’s role in forming and executing U.S. foreign policy, and the power players shaping national security policy in Washington. He was the first anchor of POLITICO’s “National Security Daily” newsletter.
Ward has won numerous awards for his reporting and was part of a POLITICO team that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Previously, Ward was Vox’s White House and national security reporter.
He is the author of the book, “The Internationalists: The Fight to Restore American Foreign Policy after Trump.” Ward is also a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Resources from the conversation
- Buy Michael's book, Countering China's Great Game
- Buy Alex's book, The Internationalists
- Read Alex's reporting at Politico
- Follow Alex on X/Twitter
In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, Michael Sobolik turns over the hosting chair to Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) for a discussion about Michael's new book, Countering China's Great Game.
Note: the episode was originally published on Rep. Crenshaw's podcast, We Hold These Truths. This episode is excerpted from that broader conversation.
Guest biography
Originally from the Houston area, Rep. Dan Crenshaw is a proud 6th generation Texan. In 2006, Rep. Crenshaw graduated from Tufts University, where he earned his Naval officer commission through Navy ROTC. Following graduation, he immediately reported to SEAL training in Coronado, CA, where he met his future wife, Tara. After graduating SEAL training, Rep. Crenshaw deployed to Fallujah, Iraq to join SEAL Team Three, his first of five deployments overseas. In November 2018, Rep. Crenshaw was elected to represent the people of Texas’s Second Congressional District. In Congress, he serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has the broadest jurisdiction of any legislative committee in Congress.
Resources from the conversation
- Buy Michael's new book, Countering China's Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance
- Check out Rep. Crenshaw's podcast, We Hold These Truths
- Follow Rep. Crenshaw on X/Twitter
In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik speaks with Rep. Mike Gallagher (WI-3), Chairman of the House of Representatives Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Sobolik and Chairman Gallagher discuss the current TikTok legislation, the committee's focus on biosecurity, and the broader contours of U.S.-China strategic competition.
Guest biography
Congressman Mike Gallagher has represented Wisconsin’s 8th District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2017. He was born and raised in Green Bay, where he now lives with his wife Anne and daughters, Grace and Rose.
Rep. Gallagher served for seven years on active duty in the United States Marine Corps, including two deployments to Iraq. He also served as the lead Republican staffer for the Middle East and Counterterrorism on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and worked in the private sector at an energy and supply chain management company in Green Bay.
Rep. Gallagher earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, a master’s degree in Security Studies from Georgetown University, a second in Strategic Intelligence from National Intelligence University, and a PhD in International Relations from Georgetown.
Resources from the conversation
- Pre-order Michael's forthcoming book Countering China's Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance (Naval Institute Press: April 2024)
- Read H.R.7521, Chairman Gallagher's bipartisan TikTok bill
- Read Michael's latest op-ed, "Defang TikTok Before It's Too Late" (The Dispatch)
- Read H.R.7085, Chairman Gallagher's bipartisan biosecurity bill
In this episode of GREAT POWER POCAST, Michael Sobolik cedes the host chair to his colleague Ilan Berman. The episode is a re-airing of Ilan's conversation with Michael on DISINFORMATION WARS, another AFPC product.
In the conversation, Ilan and Michael unpack H.R.7521, the TikTok bill making its way through Congress. Michael unpacks the legislation, maps out the policy and political terrain in the House and Senate, and previews what to expect over the next few weeks.
Resources from the conversation:
- Pre-order Michael's book, Countering China's Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance
- Subscribe to Ilan's podcast, DISINFORMATION WARS
- Read H.R.7521, the "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act"
- Follow Michael on X/Twitter, where he has closely tracked the TikTok debate
- Follow Ilan on X/Twitter, where he regularly shares analysis about information warfare and Middle East politics
In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik speaks with Cleo Paskal about America's Compact agreements with Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia. These small Pacific island nations were critical battle sites in World War II, and today they form the backbone of America's military presence in East Asia. Political gridlock in Washington, however, could nix the deals that have secured these unique relationships for decades. Paskal explains this history, Beijing's efforts to spread its malign influence in the region, and the state of legislation on Capitol Hill.
Guest biography
Cleo Paskal is a non-resident senior fellow at FDD focusing on the Indo-Pacific region, in particular, the Pacific Islands and India. She has testified before the U.S. Congress, regularly lectures and moderates for seminars for the U.S. military, and has taught at defense colleges in the United States, United Kingdom, India, Canada, and Oman.
Resources from the conversation
- Pre-order Michael's book about U.S.-China great power competition
- Follow Cleo on X (formerly Twitter)
- Read Josh Rogin's column about the Compact agreements
In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik interviews Iskander Rehman about protracted warfare throughout history, what a war between America and China could look like, and what the United States should do to strengthen its resiliency.
Guest biography
Iskander Rehman joined AFPC as a Senior Fellow for Strategic Studies in July 2020. His work focuses on applied history, grand strategy, and US defense strategy in Asia.
In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik speaks with Jimmy Quinn about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) efforts to influence U.S. politics at the state and local level. Sobolik and Quinn assess Beijing's success, examine the pervasiveness of CCP malign influence in U.S. states and cities, and review Washington's responses.
Guest biography
Jimmy Quinn is the national security correspondent for National Review and a Novak Fellow at The Fund for American Studies.
Resources from the conversation
- Pre-order Michael's forthcoming book about U.S.-China competition
- Read Jimmy's extensive reporting about Beijing's state-level influence campaign in America (and other issues)
- Read Michael's recent TikTok op-ed
In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik flies solo and reflects on the highs and (mostly) lows of America's China policy throughout 2023. He addresses three topics: the spy balloon, Taiwan, and TikTok. The main takeaway: despite the pervasive rhetoric that America's policy toward Beijing has fundamentally shifted toward a more competitive stance, Washington continues to pull its punches and leave significant leverage on the table.
RESOURCES FROM THE CONVERSATION
- Pre-order Michael's forthcoming book, Countering China's Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance
- Read reporting from Bloomberg on Beijing's spy balloon
- Read reporting from NBC News about the Biden administration's response to the spy balloon
- Read the referenced articles about Taiwan policy (NYT, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs)
- Read Michael's thread on Twitter/X about the probability of banning TikTok
In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik interviews Sean Mirski about America's path to regional supremacy, how to understand China as a rising power, and the future of global stability.
Guest biography.
Sean A. Mirski is a lawyer, historian, and U.S. foreign policy scholar who has worked on national security issues across multiple U.S. presidential administrations.
A term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, he currently practices national security, foreign relations, and appellate law at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, and is also a Visiting Scholar at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He previously served in the U.S. Department of Defense under both Republican and Democratic administrations as Special Counsel to the General Counsel, where he earned the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Award for Outstanding Achievement. He has written extensively on American history, international relations, law, and politics, including as author of We May Dominate the World: Ambition, Anxiety, and the Rise of the American Colossus (PublicAffairs 2023), and as editor of the book Crux of Asia: China, India, and the Emerging Global Order (CEIP 2013). Earlier in his career, he clerked for Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. on the U.S. Supreme Court and then-Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and served as a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Named one of Forbes magazine’s “30 Under 30,” he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and holds a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Chicago.
Resources from the conversation
- Read Sean's new book, We May Dominate The World: Ambition, Anxiety, and the Rise of the American Colossus
- Read Sean's op-ed in The Washington Post about the Monroe Doctrine
- Read the transcript of the U.S.-China 2021 summit in Anchorage, AK
In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik chats with Nazak Nikakhtar about export controls and their role in U.S.-China competition. Nazak addresses specific U.S. export controls on Huawei, and also shares a creative idea to address the challenges TikTok poses to policymakers in Washington.
Guest biography
The Honorable Nazak Nikakhtar is a partner at Wiley. From 2018 to 2021, with unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Nazak served as the Department of Commerce’s Assistant Secretary for Industry & Analysis at the International Trade Administration (ITA). Nazak also fulfilled the duties of the Under Secretary for Industry and Security at Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). In these roles, Nazak was the agency’s primary liaison with U.S. industry and trade associations, and she shaped major initiatives to strengthen U.S. industry competitiveness, promote innovation, and accelerate economic and job growth. As one of the key national security experts in the U.S. government, she developed and implemented innovative laws, regulations, and policies to safeguard strategically important technologies, strengthen the U.S. industrial base, and protect the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States. As the Department’s lead on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), she played a key role in shaping U.S. investment policy. As the head of the agency’s trade policy office, she advised the U.S. government on legal and economic issues impacting critical technologies, advanced manufacturing, financial services, e-commerce, data privacy, cybersecurity, critical minerals/rare earths, and energy competition. Finally, as the federal agency’s lead on supply chain assessments, Nazak spearheaded the United States’ first-ever whole-of-government initiative to evaluate and strengthen supply chains across all strategic sectors of the economy.
Resources from the conversation
- Check out Michael's book announcement
- Get to know Nazak better (full bio)
- Read about Secretary Raimondo's trip to China (and Michael's commentary)
- Read Nazak's interview with The Wire China
In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik chats with Mike Mazza of the American Enterprise Institute about America's China policy, what "responsible competition" actually looks like, and what it means for hot-button policy issues in Washington and throughout the country.
Guest biography
Michael Mazza is a nonresident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he analyzes US defense policy in the Asia-Pacific region, Chinese military modernization, cross–Taiwan Strait relations, Korean Peninsula security, and US interests in Southeast Asia. He is also a senior nonresident fellow at the Global Taiwan Institute (GTI).
Mr. Mazza writes regularly for the Global Taiwan Brief, GTI’s biweekly publication. He has contributed to numerous AEI studies on American grand strategy in Asia, US defense strategy in the Asia-Pacific, and Taiwanese defense strategy, and his published work includes opinion pieces in the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and Foreign Affairs. He also writes often for the AEIdeas blog.
Mr. Mazza has an MA in international relations from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University and a BA in history from Cornell University. He has lived in China, where he attended the Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
Resources from the conversation
- Read Mike's policy paper on U.S.-China competition
- Read Mike's work at AEI
- Follow Mike on Twitter (or X, whatever it's called now)
In this week's episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik interviews Julie Millsap about the last developments in the Chinese Communist Party's genocide of Uyghurs, the Biden administration's reprioritization of the issue, and what it portends for the future of US-China relations.
Guest biography
Julie Millsap serves as the Government Relations Manager at The Uyghur Human Rights Project. She became publicly involved in Uyghur advocacy in 2020, when she left China after 10 years residing and working in the Inner Mongolia region. She has also been a frequent collaborator with the World Uyghur Congress, Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, and various other entities working on democracy promotion and human rights. During the course of her advocacy, she has met with government officials in Turkey, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Canada, Germany, The Czech Republic, and the United States to raise the issues and discuss policy options to address the challenges posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and needed changes to stop Uyghur genocide. She is fluent in Mandarin and resides in the Washington D.C. area with her family.
Resources from the conversation
- Read Julie's tweet that sparked this interview
- Read Michael Martina's reporting in Reuters about the State Department's blocking of competitive actions targeting the CCP
- Read Michael's coverage of the Biden administration's diplomatic sacrifices to secure Secretary Blinken's trip to Beijing
- Follow Julie on Twitter
- Follow the Uyghur Human Rights Project on Twitter
In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik interviews Bruce Klingner about North Korea’s nuclear program, recent developments in the U.S.-South Korea alliance, and the outlook for stability in Northeast Asia.
Guest biography
Bruce Klingner specializes in Korean and Japanese affairs as the Senior Research Fellow for Northeast Asia at The Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Center. Klingner’s analysis and writing about North Korea, South Korea and Japan, as well as related issues, are informed by his 20 years of service at the Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Klingner, who joined Heritage in 2007, has testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He is a frequent commentator in U.S. and foreign media. His articles and commentary have appeared in major American and foreign publications and he is a regular guest on broadcast and cable news outlets.
From 1996 to 2001, Klingner was CIA’s Deputy Division Chief for Korea, responsible for the analysis of political, military, economic and leadership issues for the president of the United States and other senior U.S. policymakers. In 1993-1994, he was the chief of CIA’s Korea branch, which analyzed military developments during a nuclear crisis with North Korea.
Klingner is a distinguished graduate of the National War College, where he received a master’s degree in National Security Strategy in 2002. He also holds a master’s degree in Strategic Intelligence from the Defense Intelligence College and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Middlebury College in Vermont.
He is active in Korean martial arts, attaining third-degree black belt in taekwondo and first-degree black belt in hapkido and teuk kong moo sool.
Resources from the conversation
- Watch Bruce’s interview with PBS NewsHour
- Read Bruce’s analysis of the recent U.S.-South Korea summit
- Read Bruce’s publication about recent developments in North Korea’s nuclear program
- Read Bruce’s white paper about challenges in the U.S.-South Korea alliance
In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik speaks with Sarah Isgur about the legal issues surrounding a possible TikTok ban, how different bills on Capitol Hill address these realities, and the merits of TikTok's possible legal objections.
Guest biography
Sarah Isgur is a senior editor of The Dispatch and host of the Advisory Opinions podcast. With experience on three presidential campaigns and all three branches, she knows how decisions in Washington get made., and former spokesperson in the United States Department of Justice. Isgur was campaign manager for the Carly Fiorina 2016 presidential campaign. She also worked for the 2012 Mitt Romney presidential campaign. In 2016, she was a fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics.
Resources from the conversation
- Read the Politico story about the legal challenges of banning TikTok
- Read Sarah's recent analysis about the politics of banning TikTok
- Check out Sarah's podcast, Advisory Opinions
- Read Michael's recent op-ed about the politics of a TikTok ban
- Read Michael's analysis of political opposition to banning TikTok on the Left and the Right
In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik interviews Rebeccah Heinrichs about the war in Ukraine and Taiwan's future, the limits and lengths of American power, and whether Washington has the strength to help both capitals.
Guest Biography
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute and the director of its Keystone Defense Initiative. She specializes in US national defense policy with a focus on strategic deterrence.
Ms. Heinrichs currently serves as a commissioner on the bipartisan Strategic Posture Commission, which was created in the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. She also serves on the US Strategic Command Advisory Group and the National Independent Panel on Military Service and Readiness.
She is an adjunct professor at the Institute of World Politics where she teaches nuclear deterrence theory and is also a contributing editor of Providence: A Journal of Christianity and American Foreign Policy.
Ms. Heinrichs earned her MA in national security and strategic studies from the US Naval War College and graduated with highest distinction from its College of Naval Command and Staff, receiving the Director’s Award for academic excellence. She earned her BA in history and political science from Ashland University in Ohio, was an Ashbrook Scholar, and currently serves as a member of the University's Board of Trustees. She is enrolled at Missouri State University pursuing her doctorate of defense and strategic studies.
She lives in Virginia with her husband and their five children.
Resources from the conversation
- Read Michael's op-ed about the New Right
- Read Rebeccah's op-ed about American exceptionalism
In this special edition episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik turns the conversation over to AFPC President Herman Pirchner and AFPC Advisory Board Member Manisha Singh for a discussion on the past year of warfare in Ukraine, what the coming months could look like, and what it means for the United States and global security.
Guest biographies
Herman Pirchner, Jr. is the founding President of AFPC. Under his leadership, AFPC has hosted Washington events for hundreds of foreign officials ranging from the Prime Minister of Malta to the Prime Minister of Russia; conducted hundreds of briefings for Members of Congress and their staffs and, organized dozens of fact-finding missions abroad for current and former senior American officials. Former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, Former Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld, Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, former Director of Central Intelligence R. James Woolsey, as well as the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dick Myers are among those who have participated in this program. Pirchner’s travels have taken him to most areas of the world, including more than 65 trips to the former Soviet Union since 1989, and more than 30 trips to China since 1994. He is an engaging speaker with a compelling grasp of the dynamics of world affairs. AFPC’s publication program includes sponsorship of articles, monographs, books and Congressional testimony. AFPC authors have appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines including the Washington Post, New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Jane’s Defense Weekly, Washington Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and National Review. In addition to his duties at AFPC, Mr. Pirchner directed the national security team advising the 2012 Presidential campaign of Newt Gingrich. Among his many publications is Pirchner’s very prescient 2004 monograph, Reviving Greater Russia: The Future of Russia’s Borders with Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, and Ukraine. He is also the author of Post Putin: Succession, Stability, and Russia's Future (Rowman and Littlefield, May 2019), which is also available in Ukrainian and Russian editions. Before founding AFPC, Mr. Pirchner served in the U.S. Senate as Director of Legislation for Senator Roger Jepsen (R-IA) and Legislative Assistant to Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA).
She is an American attorney and government official who served as Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs in the Trump administration until January 20, 2021. She previously also served as Acting Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment. Previously, Singh worked as a lawyer at Reed Smith and Squire Patton Boggs. She also served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs during the Bush administration.
Resources from the conversation
- Read Herman's book, Post Putin
- Read Herman's Washington Times op-ed about U.S. assistance to Ukraine
In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik chats with Rick Lane about the controversy surrounding TikTok, what it means for national security, and what we should do about it.
Guest biography
Rick Lane is a tech policy expert, child safety advocate, and the founder and CEO of Iggy Ventures. Iggy advises and invests in companies, projects, and public policy intitiatives that can have a positive social impact. Prior to starting Iggy, Rick served for 15 years as the Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for 21st Century Fox. Until its purchase by Disney, 21st Century Fox was one of the world's premier entertainment companies with a portfolio of cable, broadcast, film, pay TV and satellite assets spanning six continents across the globe. As Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, Rick was responsible for coordinating the development and implementation of the Company’s public policy activities.
Resources from the conversation
- Read Rick’s congressional testimony about TikTok
- Read Rick’s full biography
- Read Rick’s 2023 article about TikTok and foreign lobbying
- Read Rick’s 2020 article about TikTok
- Read Michael’s latest op-ed about the China spy balloon
- Support the work of AFPC
- Subscribe to AFPC’s Indo-Pacific Monitor
In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik caught Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) between votes for a conversation about the Senator's recent trip to Taiwan and Japan, as well as his legislative efforts to counter Beijing's economic coercion and insulate America's supply chain vulnerabilities.
Guest Biography
Senator Todd Young represents the state of Indiana. He currently serves on the U.S. Senate Committees on Finance; Foreign Relations; Commerce, Science & Transportation; and Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Previously, in the House, he served on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Budget Committee, and most recently the House Ways and Means Committee.
Resources from the Conversation
- Read Sen. Young's interview with Politico about his trip to Taiwan
- Read Sen. Young's bill, S.4514 - "Countering Economic Coercion Act of 2022"
- Read reporting on Sen. Young's backroom negotiations to pass the CHIPS and Science Act
- Read Michael's op-ed in Newsweek about Speaker Pelosi's trip to Taiwan in August 2022
- Subscribe to the AFPC Indo-Pacific Monitor
- Give to AFPC
In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik interviews Josh Kurlantzick about the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) public diplomacy, its malign activities around the world, and what it means for the United States.
Guest Biography
Joshua Kurlantzick is senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). He is the author, most recently, of Beijing's Global Media Offensive: China's Uneven Campaign to Influence Asia and the World. Kurlantzick was previously a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he studied Southeast Asian politics and economics and China's relations with Southeast Asia, including Chinese investment, aid, and diplomacy. Previously, he was a fellow at the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy and a fellow at the Pacific Council on International Policy. He is currently focused on China’s relations with Southeast Asia, and China’s approach to soft and sharp power, including state-backed media and information efforts and other components of soft and sharp power. He is also working on issues related to the rise of global populism, populism in Asia, and the impact of COVID-19 on illiberal populism and political freedom overall.
Resources from the Conversation
- Read Josh's new book, Beijing's Global Media Offensive
- Read Josh's previous book about China's public diplomacy
- Read reporting from Politicoabout Beijing's charm offensive
- Read reporting from The Wall Street Journalabout China-Australia relations
- Subscribe to AFPC's Indo-Pacific Monitor
In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik interviews Matt Pottinger about the Chinese Communist Party's censorship and propaganda, its impact on America, and how the United States can counter it.
Guest Biography
Matt Pottinger is a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution and Chair of the China program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Pottinger served the White House for four years in senior roles on the National Security Council staff, including as deputy national security advisor from 2019 to 2021. In that role, he coordinated the full spectrum of national security policy. He previously served as senior director for Asia, where he led the administration’s work on the Indo-Pacific region, in particular its shift on China policy.
Before his White House service, Pottinger spent the late 1990s and early 2000s in China as a reporter for Reuters and the Wall Street Journal. He then fought in Iraq and Afghanistan as a US Marine during three combat deployments between 2007 and 2010. Following active duty, he founded and led an Asia-focused risk consultancy and ran Asia research at an investment fund in New York.
Resources from the Conversation
- Read Matt's latest article in Foreign Affairs with Matthew Johnson and David Feith
- Read Matt's prior articles and congressional testimony about the Great Firewall of China
- Subscribe to AFPC's Indo-Pacific Monitor
- Support the work of AFPC
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 BiographyIlan 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 for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency as well as the U.S. Departments of State and Defense, and has also provided assistance on foreign policy and national security issues to a range of governmental agencies and congressional offices. He has been called one of America's "leading experts on the Middle East and Iran" by CNN. Mr. Berman is a member of the Associated Faculty at Missouri State University's Department of Defense and Strategic Studies. A frequent writer and commentator, he has written for the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, the New York Times, Foreign Policy, the Washington Post and USA Today, among many other publications. He has also edited and published multiple books.Resources from the Conversation Read Ilan’s op-ed in Newsweek Liston to Ilan’s AFPC podcast, Disinformation Wars Follow Ilan on Twitter Subscribe to AFPC's Indo-Pacific Monitor
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 that capacity, Craig regularly briefed federal law enforcement, U.S. military personnel, foreign governments, congressional oversight committees, and the White House on a wide range of issues, including China’s overseas military expansion, Chinese malign influence, and North Korea. Craig is a regular contributor to outlets such as Foreign Policy, The Hill, Defense News, Newsweek, The National Interest, The Diplomat, Real Clear Defense, The Wall Street Journal, Axios, Yahoo, CNBC, NBC News, and Fox News. Craig received his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Florida and his master’s degree in international policy from the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University.
Resources from the Conversation
- Read Craig's article in Foreign Policy about ways to sabotage the PLA's overseas military bases
- Read Craig's research about the nexus of US higher education and the PLA
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 a China analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses in Virginia. He has testified before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission and given talks at the U.S. Naval War College, Japan’s National Defense Academy, and Taiwan’s National Defense University. Ian holds an M.A. in China Studies from National Chengchi University in Taiwan and a B.A. in International Studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He studied Chinese at Fudan University in Shanghai and National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei.
Resources from the Conversation
- Read Ian’s new book, The Final Struggle: Inside China’s Global Strategy
- Read Ian’s book, The Chinese Invasion Threat: Taiwan’s Defense and American Strategy in Asia
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 tumultuous Cultural Revolution and spent the first several months of his life in detention with his mother. He came to the United States in 1995 as a student and was later granted asylum by the U.S. government. Since June 2021, Turkel has served as the Vice Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. In September 2020, Turkel was named one of the TIME 100 Most Influential People in the World; and in May 2021, he was named on Fortune's List of the World's 50 Greatest Leaders. He is a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In June 2021, the Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Initiative honored Turkel with the first Notre Dame Prize for Religious Liberty. Turkel received an M.A. in International Relations and a J.D. from the American University in Washington, DC. As an attorney, he specializes in regulatory compliance, federal investigation and enforcement, anti-bribery, legislative advocacy, and immigration. In addition to his professional career, Turkel has devoted his time and energy to promoting Uyghur human rights and supporting American and universal democratic norms. He serves as the Chairman of the Board for the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), which he co-founded in 2003.
Resources from the Conversation
- Read Nury's new book, No Escape: The True Story of China's Genocide of the Uyghurs
- Watch the PBS Frontline special on Xinjiang
- Read the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act
- Read the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act
- Read Michael's policy paper on America's response to the atrocities in Xinjiang
- Follow Nury on Twitter
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 U.S.-China competition throughout the region, to include in Northeast, Southeast, South, and Central Asia as well as Oceania. He has led or participated in numerous RAND studies assessing regional responses to competition, with a particular emphasis on Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Pacific Island states, Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan.
Grossman is widely quoted regionally and globally. He has interviewed with Australian Broadcasting Corp, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN, LA Times, New York Times, NPR, Sydney Morning Herald, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and others. Grossman has published dozens of commentaries and journal articles, including for Asia Policy, Foreign Policy, International Security, Nikkei Asia, Strategic Studies Quarterly, Studies in Intelligence, The Diplomat, The Hill, War on the Rocks, and World Politics Review.
Before RAND, Grossman served over a decade in the Intelligence Community, where he served as the daily intelligence briefer to the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and to the assistant secretary of defense for Asian & Pacific Security Affairs. He also served at the National Security Agency and worked at the CIA on the President's Daily Brief staff.
Grossman is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California and an Indo-Pacific Fellow at the Perth USAsia Centre. He holds an M.A. from Georgetown University in U.S. national security policy and a B.A. from the University of Michigan in political science and Asian studies.
Resources from the Conversation
- Read background about the China-Solomon Islands security pact
- Follow Derek's work at the RAND Corporation
- Check out the Lowy Institute's Pacific Aid Map
- Read Michael's analysis of the strategic importance of the Northern Pacific to the United States in RealClearDefense
- Follow Derek on Twitter
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). He was a policy analyst on the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (2003–05) and has been senior fellow for China studies at the American Foreign Policy Council since 2006. Before coming to Notre Dame in 2019, he was assistant professor of public affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.
Eisenman holds a PhD in political science from UCLA, an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) where he studied at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, and a BA in East Asian Studies from The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs.
Resources from the Conversation
- Read Josh's book with Amb. David Shinn, China and Africa: A Century of Engagement
- Read Josh's edited volume with Eric Heginbotham, China Steps Out: Beijing's Major Power Engagement with the Developing World
- Follow Josh on Twitter
- Email Michael for questions or comments: GreatPowerPod@afpc.org
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 has been studying Russia, China, and India for nearly twenty years since his undergraduate days in Russian and Chinese language at Columbia University. Dr. Ward is the author of China’s Vision of Victory, a guide to the global grand strategy of the Chinese government which has been widely read in US government and national security circles, as well as by audiences in business and finance. He earned his PhD at the University of Oxford where he specialized in China-India relations, after initially being admitted to Oxford for a doctorate in Russia-China relations during the Cold War. He has traveled widely in Russia, China, India, Latin America and the Middle East, and speaks Russian, Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic, among other languages. As a subject matter expert, Dr. Ward has been an advisor to the US Department of Defense on Chinese long-term strategy and has briefed numerous US government audiences including at US Strategic Command, US Indo-Pacific Command, the US Department of Commerce, the US Defense Intelligence Agency, and the Strategy Division of the US Naval Staff. Through his consulting company, Atlas Organization, Dr. Ward helps Fortune 500 companies and financial institutions understand US-China global competition, improve their risk assessments on China, and build new global strategies that can withstand historic geopolitical change. He is a frequent commentator on national and international television and radio, with appearances on Bloomberg, CNBC, Fox Business, Fox, MSNBC and CNN International, among other stations. His next book, on the future of US strategy towards China is forthcoming in 2023.
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 Biography
Jonathan Pelson joined Lucent Technologies during the telecom boom of the ‘90s, helping create and market some of the company’s breakthrough technology solutions. He later served as the Chief of Convergence Strategy for British Telecom, developing a global wireless plan for the company. During his time with these and other telecom companies, he traveled to China and saw that country’s fledgling telecommunications companies grow and eventually seize the world lead. With deep personal experience in the sector and rare access to the people who ran the world’s largest telecom companies, he decided to investigate how the lead was lost to the Chinese and what we could do to take it back. Jon has a degree in economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia.
Resources from the Conversation
- Read Jon Pelson's book, Wireless Wars: China's Dangerous Domination of 5G and How We're Fighting Back
- Read about US policies to stymie Huawei's market dominance
- Read Michael's analysis about the security and military risks Huawei poses to the US and our allies
- Follow Jon on Twitter
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 such as energy policy, countering predatory Chinese activity, expanding the historic Abraham Accords between Israel and Muslim-majority nations, and establishing a U.S.-led Middle East strategic alliance. Coates routinely appears on TV and radio outlets such as Fox News and CNN. Her writing has appeared in Bloomberg, FoxNews.com, The Jerusalem Post, The New York Post, Newsweek, The National Interest, National Review, The New Criterion, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Examiner, and The Washington Times.
Coates previously served as the Deputy National Security Advisor for the Middle East and North Africa on the National Security Council staff and the Senior Policy Advisor to the Secretary of Energy in the Donald J. Trump administration. She also served as the National Security Advisor in the office of Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and as Director of Research for (former) Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s 2011 memoir, Known and Unknown.
Coates holds a B.A. from Trinity College, a M.A. from Williams College, and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, all in art history. Coates is the author and presenter of dozens of publications and conference papers worldwide on the intersections of art and history, including David’s Sling: A History of Democracy in Ten Works of Art (Encounter Books, 2016).
Resources from the Conversation
- Read about Russia's military deployments along Ukraine's borders
- Read Donald Rumsfeld's book, Known and Unknown: A Memoir
- Read about Senator Ted Cruz's position on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline
- Read about Senate Democrats and their position on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline
- Read Victoria's book, David's Sling: A History of Democracy in Ten Works of Art
- Follow Victoria's work at AFPC
- Follow Victoria on Twitter
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 U.S. representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district (1995–96), as a United States senator from Kansas (1996–2011), and the 46th governor of Kansas (2011–18).
Resources from the Conversation
- Read Kenneth Waltz's book, Man, The State, And War: A Theoretical Analysis
- Read Ambassador Brownback's comments about spiritual capital
- Read about Ambassador Brownback's advocacy for Uyghurs, North Koreans, and the Rohingya
- Read the JADE Act
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 Policy, Congressional Quarterly, Federal Computer Week, and Japan's Asahi Shimbun. He lives in Washington, DC.
Resources from the Conversation
- Read Josh's book, Chaos Under Heaven: Trump, Xi, and the Battle for the 21st Century
- Read Josh's reporting about the University of Texas-Austin
- Read Josh's reporting about congressional efforts to block legislation honoring Liu Xiaobo
- Read background on China's earlier coverup of the SARS virus
- Read Josh's reporting about congressional leadership blocking Hong Kong legislation
- Read Josh's reporting about congressional Democrats pulling out of the China Task Force
- Read Josh's reporting about congressional legislation to compete with China
- Read Josh's reporting about the Biden administration's stance on Uyghur human rights legislation
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 regional security in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation, he has consulted for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency as well as the U.S. Departments of State and Defense, and has also provided assistance on foreign policy and national security issues to a range of governmental agencies and congressional offices. He has been called one of America's "leading experts on the Middle East and Iran" by CNN. Mr. Berman is a member of the Associated Faculty at Missouri State University's Department of Defense and Strategic Studies. A frequent writer and commentator, he has written for the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, the New York Times, Foreign Policy, the Washington Post and USA Today, among many other publications. He has also edited and published multiple books.
Resources from the Conversation
- Read Ilan Berman's book, Wars of Ideas: Theology, Interpretation and Power in the Muslim World
- Read Kai Strittmatter's book, We Have Been Harmonized: Life in China's Surveillance State
- Liston to AFPC podcast, Disinformation Wars
- Subscribe to AFPC's Indo-Pacific Monitor
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 the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and was previously on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Resources from the Conversation:
- Read Sen. Ted Cruz's interview with Margaret Brennan on November 21, 2021
- Watch Sen. Ted Cruz's interview with Maria Bartiromo on September 19, 2021
- Subscribe to AFPC's Indo-Pacific Monitor
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 for Bloomberg Opinion, and, most recently, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub. Previously, he was a correspondent for TIME magazine and The Wall Street Journal.
Resources from the conversation
- Read Michael Schuman's book, Superpower Interrupted: The Chinese History of the World
- Read Michael Schuman's article in The Atlantic, "Washington Is Getting China Wrong"
- Follow Michael Schuman's work at the Atlantic Council
- Read Michael Schuman's articles at The Atlantic and Bloomberg
- Subscribe to AFPC's Indo-Pacific Monitor
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 served as a senior research fellow at The Project 2049 Institute and national security fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Prior to those positions he was the editor of China Brief at The Jamestown Foundation from October 2007- to July 2011 and a special associate in the International Cooperation Department at the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. While in law school, he clerked within the Office of the Chairman at the Federal Communications Commission and the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Mr. Hsiao received his J.D. and certificate from the Law and Technology Institute at the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law where he served as the editor-in-chief of the Catholic University’s Journal of Law and Technology. He received a B.A. in international studies from the American University’s School of International Service and the University Honors Program.
Resources from the Conversation
- Follow the Global Taiwan Institute
- Subscribe to GTI's Global Taiwan Brief
- Subscribe to AFPC's Indo-Pacific Monitor
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 project, a major leak of classified Chinese government documents revealing the inner workings of mass internment camps in Xinjiang. Previously, Bethany was an editor and contributing reporter at Foreign Policy magazine and a national security reporter at The Daily Beast. Bethany spent four years in China and is now based in Washington, DC.
Resources from the Conversation
- Follow Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian's work
- Subscribe to the Axios China newsletter
- Read the China Cables project
- Read The Wires of War, by Jacob Helberg
- Subscribe to AFPC's Indo-Pacific Monitor
