America’s leading role in the world is eroding under the second Trump administration, raising questions about how China will position itself in the future global order. “We blew it,” says historian and Senior Fellow Robert Kagan in conversation with Ryan Hass and Jon Czin on the latest episode of The Beijing Brief. Kagan examines what this could mean for China’s ambitions and behavior in the international system.
KAGAN: There’s a lot of talk about China running the world. China can’t run the world unless it can at least run its own hemisphere, or at least its own region.
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HASS: Hello, you’re listening to The Beijing Brief from the John L. Thornton China Center at Brookings, part of the Brookings Podcast Network. I’m Ryan Hass, director of the China Center, and The Beijing Brief is a biweekly podcast focused on unpacking the forces shaping the U.S.-China relationship, as well as China’s political, economic, and technological ambitions. And I’m joined today by my co-host, Jon Czin.
CZIN: Great to be here.
