America, Russia, China and the Struggle for Global Supremacy

WSJ Opinion: Free Expression

Gerard Baker, Editor at Large, The Wall Street Journal

Society & Culture, News

4.6 • 591 Ratings

🗓️ 12 November 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

How can the U.S. win the new Cold War against its old Cold War adversaries? Donald Trump and Xi Jinping have come to a truce of sorts in their trade war, with the U.S. reducing tariffs and China agreeing not to block vital commodity exports. Russia’s war against Ukraine rages on, with no signs of any negotiated settlement. President Trump seems to prize his relationships with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, but what is the goal for the U.S. in this age of power rivalry? How can the United States maintain a dominant role in geopolitics, while keeping threats from its adversaries at bay? On this episode of Free Expression, Gerry Baker speaks with former Ambassador to Russia and professor at Stanford University Michael McFaul, who details how the U.S. will handle these countries in his new book, “Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder.” They also discuss why Russia is a bigger threat than China to the United States and how China wants to wield its influence through the world economy, unlike Vladimir Putin’s campaign of disruption. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Millions of Americans use credit cards to purchase goods every day.
0:05.0	The Durbin Marshall credit card mandates put the secure transactions you rely on at risk,
0:10.0	leaving you vulnerable to hackers and foreign cybercriminals that want your data.
0:15.0	Hackers win. You lose.
0:18.0	Guard your card before it's too late.
0:20.0	Tell Congress your data security is not for sale
0:23.5	and oppose the Durbin Marshall credit card mandates. Paid for by Electronic Payments Coalition.
0:31.9	From the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal, this is Free Expression with Jerry Baker. Hello and welcome to free expression from the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal. This is Free Expression with Jerry Baker.
0:38.8	Hello and welcome to Free Expression from the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal.
0:42.5	I'm Jerry Baker, editor at large of the journal.
0:45.1	Thanks for listening.
0:46.5	I hope you're ready of subscribing.
0:47.4	If you're not, please do subscribe at Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you do you're listening.
0:52.1	This week, America, Russia, China and the struggle for
0:56.8	global supremacy in the 21st century. Yes, we tackle the big subjects on this podcast. This
1:02.2	week, we're going to look at that question of global geopolitical power in the current environment.
1:08.3	Many people talk about as being in a new Cold War with China,
1:11.0	but there are lots of similarities and differences with the old Cold War, the one that we won,
1:15.2	you'll recall, against the Soviet Union and its allies 30 or so years ago. And every day,
1:21.0	we are confronted with the reality of those differences of that relationship between the United
1:26.0	States and China. Just last month,
1:28.6	President Trump and Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, reached a kind of what we can call a truce in their
	...

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