The Return of Great Power Competition

Policy Forum

January 15, 2019 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM EST

Hayek Auditorium, Cato Institute

Featuring David Edelstein, Vice Dean of Faculty in Georgetown College and Associate Professor in the Department of Government, the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, and the Center for Security Studies, Georgetown University; Stacie E. Goddard, Professor of Political Science, Wellesley College; Paul K. MacDonald, Associate Professor, Wellesley College; and Joshua R. Itzkowitz Shifrinson, Assistant Professor of International Relations, Boston University; moderated by Christopher Preble, Vice President for Defense and Foreign Policy Studies, Cato Institute.

The Trump administration has emphasized the reemergence of great power competition as the organizing principle for U.S. foreign policy. What scholarship should inform its understanding of how to compete with China and Russia? And how will international relations change in an era when new actors are challenging the status quo?

The history of great power politics can provide some clues. Over time, states have risen above rivals and fallen to new challengers — but the transitions have not always been disastrous, nor even violent. Some states have successfully managed their decline, while others have resorted to aggressive posturing, or even war, to try to maintain their status at all costs.

Join us as four distinguished scholars discuss their recent work on the history and future of great power relations.