"Beijing’s efforts to strike a nationalist chord among Chinese citizens regarding Taiwanese unification might not be easily transmitted," the Council's Dina Smeltz and Craig Kafura write.
As it enters its 250th year, the United States faces an international political system it can neither dominate nor disregard. American leaders will have to do something they have long resisted: learn how to actually play the game.
Experts share how changes in American leadership, alliances, and global engagement shaped the nation’s first 250 years—and what the current moment reveals about the next.
"We'll see how the working levels are able to negotiate on some of these really sticky points like finalizing energy purchases, like finalizing that TikTok transfer," Craig Kafura says.
"There are some encouraging signs if you’re sitting in China and you’ve been arguing for a more diplomacy-heavy approach toward the United States," Craig Kafura says.
A short-term deal on soybeans, tariffs, and rare earths may ease tensions between the two economies, but competition over technology and supply chains runs far deeper.
