When Commerce Becomes Coercion: Navigating Weaponized Interdependence
Victor Cha, Paul Heer, and Leslie Vinjamuri discuss how major powers are turning economic interdependence into a geopolitical tool and how other countries can respond.
Mar
24
Noah Berger / AP
About This Event
Economic interdependence was once seen as a source of stability. Today, major powers are turning it into a weapon. China uses market access and supply chains to coerce countries and companies into political compliance, and the United States has responded in kind, leaving governments and businesses caught in the middle. What distinguishes this economic coercion from traditional sanctions or trade policy? How can countries and firms protect themselves when trade becomes a geopolitical tool? Join Victor Cha and Paul Heer in conversation with Leslie Vinjamuri as they examine how economic statecraft is being weaponized and what can be done to counter it.
About the Speakers
President, Geopolitics & Foreign Policy Department and Korea Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Victor Cha is president of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is also a distinguished university professor and professor of government at Georgetown University. He formerly served as a director for Asian affairs on the National Security Council from 2004 to 2007.
Senior Nonresident Fellow, Lester Crown Center on US Foreign Policy
Prior to joining the Council as a senior nonresident fellow, Paul Heer served for 30 years as a specialist on East Asian affairs in the US intelligence community. He also served on the staff of the president's daily brief and as a member of the senior analytic service at the CIA before becoming the national intelligence officer for East Asia.
President & Chief Executive Officer, Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Dr. Leslie Vinjamuri joined the Council in 2025 as the president and chief executive officer, after previously serving as director of the US and the Americas program at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, known as Chatham House, in London. She brings nearly 30 years of experience working at the intersection of international affairs, research, policy, and public engagement.