Event
Wednesday, September 7, 2022 | 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM ET

Discussing the Coming Conflict with China

With Kori Schake | Michael Beckley | Hal Brands | Derek Scissors

AEI, Auditorium
1789 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20036
Contact Information

Event: Ally Schwartz | [email protected] | 202.862.5912
Media: [email protected] | 202.862.5829

Event Summary

On September 7, AEI’s Kori Schake moderated a panel to discuss AEI’s Hal Brands and Michael Beckley’s new book, Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China (W. W. Norton, 2022). Dr. Beckley and Dr. Brands began by discussing the premise of their book: China is slowing, and as things get tough for Beijing, it will likely bring China into conflict with other powers. AEI’s Derek Scissors refuted the authors’ economic arguments by noting that the book may see China peaking where he sees stagnation.

Following a Q&A, each panelist emphasized some final points for the audience. Dr. Scissors argued that the US needs the political will to take China seriously. Dr. Brands noted that because we think peak danger is coming, it does not mean we have no problems after 2030. We can have long periods of competition, and we need to develop a strategy to get us through the near and long term. Dr. Beckley echoed Dr. Brand’s point and added that the US needs to choose its battles because the favorable goal is to get to the long game without something blowing up in the near term.

—Ally Schwartz

Event Description

China is in a perilous position: strong enough to violently challenge the existing order, yet losing confidence that time is on its side. Numerous examples from antiquity to the present show that rising powers become most aggressive when their fortunes fade, their difficulties multiply, and they realize they must achieve their ambitions now or miss the chance to do so forever. In Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China (W. W. Norton, 2022), Michael Beckley and Hal Brands explain that both history and China’s current trajectory suggest that the US-China rivalry will reach its moment of maximum danger in the 2020s.

Please join AEI’s Kori Schake as she hosts Dr. Beckley and Dr. Brands for a discussion on their book and what a protracted global competition with China may look like.

Event Materials

Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China
Hal Brands and Michael Beckley | W. W. Norton & Company | August 16, 2022

Agenda

10:00 a.m.
Introduction:
Kori Schake, Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, AEI

10:05 a.m.
Conversation:
Michael Beckley, Nonresident Senior Fellow, AEI
Hal Brands, Senior Fellow, AEI
Kori Schake, Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, AEI
Derek Scissors, Senior Fellow, AEI

10:45 a.m.
Q&A

11:00 a.m.
Adjournment

Related Content

Getting Ready for a Long War: Why a US-China Fight in the Western Pacific Won’t End Quickly
Michael Beckley and Hal Brands | AEI Press | June 22, 2022

Washington Is Preparing for the Wrong War with China
Michael Beckley and Hal Brands | Foreign Affairs | December 16, 2021

Participants & Panelists

Michael Beckley

Nonresident Senior Fellow
AEI

Hal Brands

Senior Fellow
AEI

Kori Schake

Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies
AEI

Derek Scissors

Senior Fellow
AEI