Is the US at Risk of Losing the Long-Game to China? | Rush Doshi

Hidden Forces

Demetri Kofinas

Government, Business

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 17 March 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In Episode 405 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Rush Doshi, former Deputy Senior Director for China and Taiwan on the National Security Council about the state of the U.S.-China competition, the Trump administration’s China policy, and how the United States can compete successfully with China without risking imperial overreach or bankrupting the nation.

Foreign policy in the first two months of the Trump administration has focused predominantly on ending America’s war in Ukraine, resetting U.S. commitments to Europe through NATO, reasserting dominance over the Western Hemisphere, and rebalancing trade relationships with both allies and competitors. What has not been clearly articulated in the Trump administration’s public communications is how America’s grand strategic vision—and any potential “Trump doctrine”—will look over the next four years, how China fits into that vision, and how success should be measured.

Demetri and Rush begin their conversation by reviewing Chinese party documents, materials, and analyses of China’s communications, conduct, and behavior over the last three decades to understand Beijing’s intentions and how they should shape U.S. policy during a time of waning relative American power amid a geopolitical rebalancing. They examine the new bipartisan consensus on China, discuss the Trump administration’s strategic foreign policy tactics and objectives—including the use of tariffs and incentives to rebuild American industrial capacity—and explore how the United States can successfully compete with China without risking imperial overreach or bankrupting the nation.

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Episode Recorded on 03/11/2025

Transcript

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0:00.0	What's up, everybody?
0:02.0	My name is Demetri Gaffinus, and you're listening to Hidden Forces,
0:06.0	a podcast that inspires investors, entrepreneurs, and everyday citizens,
0:11.0	the challenge consensus narratives, and learn how to think critically
0:15.0	about the systems of power shaping our world.
0:18.0	My guest in this episode of Hidden Forces is Rush Doshi, former deputy
0:22.8	senior director for China and Taiwan on the National Security Council and director of the China
0:28.3	Strategy Initiative at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also the author of the long game,
0:34.3	China's grand strategy to displace American order, which is one of, if not the,
0:39.5	most influential books in the U.S.-China policymaking community.
0:43.9	Foreign policy in the first two months of the Trump administration has been focused predominantly
0:48.9	on ending America's war in Ukraine, resetting the country's commitments to Europe through NATO,
0:55.1	reasserting its dominance over the Western Hemisphere, and rebalancing its trade relationships with
0:59.3	allies and competitors alike.
1:02.1	What has not come up much in the Trump administration's public communications is a clear
1:06.9	outline of what America's grand strategic vision, as well as the Trump doctrine, if there is one,
1:11.9	will look like over the next four years, where China fits into that vision and how success
1:17.7	should be measured in that context. In today's conversation, Rush and I begin by asking the
1:23.0	question, what is it that China wants? What do the party documents, materials, and analyses of Chinese communications,
1:30.8	conduct, and behavior over the last three decades,
1:34.0	tell us about the intentions of China's leadership
1:36.4	and how those intentions should shape U.S. policy
	...

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