Protecting US Communications: Strengthening Supply Chains and Countering Foreign Risk

In 2020, then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo officially determined that China was committing genocide against the Uyghur and other Turkic Muslim communities. A new book, The Xinjiang Procedure, reports that, in addition to torture, gang rape, and involuntary sterilization and abortion, forced organ harvesting on an industrial scale is a heinous feature of this genocide.  For these reports about forced organ harvesting, its author Ethan Gutmann drove under cover to the Central Asian border region with China where he secretly interviewed former detainees of Xinjiang’s notorious concentration camps, where over a million, mostly Uyghurs, were detained.  China’s organ transplant sector surged over the past twenty-five years, with the critical support of Western medical transplant training, joint research, technology, grants, and fellowships. Hundreds of Chinese transplant surgeons have been trained in American medical schools despite mounting reports of China’s forced organ harvesting and a failure to verify Beijing’s claims of a solely voluntary organ donor supply. To curb this, last year the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed HR 1503, the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act, which is now awaiting Senate consideration. Join Nina Shea in a discussion with Ethan Gutmannand Congressman Chris Smith, the author of the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting bill. 

Foreign-controlled telecommunications infrastructure and vulnerable global supply chains pose growing risks to the integrity and security of US communications networks. The Federal Communications Commission has taken steps to address these challenges over the past year. Efforts have focused on rooting out non-compliant overseas “bad labs” from the FCC’s equipment authorization program, accelerating the buildout of submarine cable systems, and mitigating risk from high-risk foreign components. Marking the one-year anniversary of this initiative, this event will highlight the FCC’s progress and examine next steps to secure communications supply chains and mitigate emerging risks. Experts and policymakers will discuss how to close regulatory gaps, improve compliance, and build more resilient and trusted infrastructure.

Policymakers and business leaders are looking for signals about where the broader economy is headed as the US economy navigates rapid technological change, geopolitical risks, and a monetary outlook shaped by tensions between inflation and a cooling labor market. From the Trump administration’s efforts to reindustrialize key sectors of the American economy and reshape trade relationships to persistent pressures in housing and stubborn mortgage rates, the current outlook is also underscored by an increasingly uncertain geopolitical environment. Please join Acting Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers Pierre Yared for a conversation with Senior Fellow Tom Duesterberg on the first year of the Trump administration’s economic agenda and the key factors shaping the US economy’s outlook.

“The year 2025 will be remembered as the year of the tariff,” wrote Ambassador Jamieson Greer, the United States trade representative, in a Financial Times op-ed at the end of last year. In its first year back in office, the Trump administration wielded tariffs to strike new trade deals at negotiating tables around the world. Representatives from the White House made stops in Geneva, Madrid, London, Kuala Lumpur, and Busan—and that was just for talks with the People’s Republic of China. The US also sought new terms with numerous friendly nations, culminating in the Turnberry Agreement between the United States and the European Union and including framework deals with key allies Japan, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Korea. In the new year, trade remains at or near the top of the White House’s international agenda, from ongoing regulatory disputes with Europe to the impending review of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) and negotiations between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. The Supreme Court’s ruling on the use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act has injected yet another complicating dynamic into trade discussions. If 2025 was the year of the tariff, what will 2026 be known as? The National Security Strategy argues that rebalancing global trade relationships also means “consolidating our alliance system into an economic group.” How does the administration intend to pursue this objective? Please join Ambassador Greer for a fireside chat with Senior Fellow Peter Rough on what’s next for US trade policy.

Nearly three months after Nicolás Maduro's capture, Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodríguez is consolidating her grip on power. In a sweeping shakeup, she replaced nearly half of her cabinet and all senior military commanders, including replacing defense minister Vladimir Padrino López with Gustavo González López, who has been sanctioned by the US for his past role in repression. Of Maduro's original inner circle, only three remain in the regime. Over 500 political prisoners are still behind bars, and a new amnesty law has proven to be very selective. Yet Rodríguez faces a potential new source of internal pressure, with labor groups protesting frozen wages and pensions. In the meantime, as the Trump administration pursues its phased transition strategy, it is deepening its partnership with the Rodríguez government. In recent weeks, the US formally recognized Rodríguez as Venezuela's sole leader, expanded sanctions relief beyond oil and gas to include the mining sector, and downgraded the State Department's travel advisory. Join Hudson Institute for a discussion with former US Ambassador to Venezuela James Story to examine developments in Venezuela and prospects for Washington’s strategy.  

After years of subsidized, debt-driven growth and centrally directed economic policy, China is now mired in a slowing economy relying on massive exports to sustain stability. The nation faces growing debt problems, a faltering social safety net, failing productivity growth, and increasing foreign resistance to its heavily subsidized mercantilist model. Will China lapse into a Japan-like spiral of stagnation and financial instability? Does the United States now have an opportunity to push back against Chinese efforts to win the global technology race and undermine its economic and political leadership? Join Hudson Institute for a panel that will discuss Dr. Duesterberg’s new report on the Chinese economic model and how policymakers should consider its vulnerabilities when formulating strategy to counter Beijing’s practices.

For decades, Europe developed along an east-west axis while the north-south spine of the continent remained underleveraged, its energy networks fragmented and its transit corridors incomplete. Russia's invasion of Ukraine changed the calculus. In the aftermath, Europe can no longer treat connectivity as a secondary concern. The Three Seas Initiative, linking twelve European Union member states from the Baltic to the Adriatic to the Black Sea, has emerged as one of the most serious efforts to close that gap through targeted investment in energy, transport, and digital infrastructure across Central and Eastern Europe. Whether the initiative can fulfill its promise depends on political will, sustained capital, and transatlantic coordination at a moment when American engagement with Europe is being questioned. Please join Ambassador Romana Vlahutin and Research Fellow Zineb Riboua for a conversation on the Three Seas Initiative and its role in shaping Europe's new geography of power.

Congressman Michael Baumgartner (R-WA) will join Michael Doran, Director of Hudson’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East, for a timely discussion about the evolving situation in Iran. Congressman Baumgartner brings a distinctive perspective shaped by his professional experience in the Middle East, where he worked on economic development and governance initiatives in complex and often volatile environments. His firsthand insight into the region’s political and security dynamics will inform a grounded assessment of current U.S. strategy. Together, Congressman Baumgartner, member of the Republican Policy Committee, and Doran will examine the objectives and risks of Operation Epic Fury, the broader regional implications, and the policy choices facing Washington in the weeks ahead.

The United States and Israel’s campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran marks a pivotal moment for the Middle East, with consequences that will shape the region’s future security landscape. As Washington counters Iran’s asymmetric missile and drone capabilities, Senator Joni Ernst (R‑IA)—Chairwoman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities and Co‑Chair of the Abraham Accords Caucus—has advanced key legislation, including the DEFEND and MARITIME Acts, to strengthen US and partner defenses against exactly these threats. Hudson Institute invites you to join Senator Ernst for a conversation with Senior Fellow Peter Rough, Director of the Center on Europe and Eurasia, on Operation Epic Fury, the trajectory of US policy in the Middle East, and how today’s conflict is reshaping modern warfare and strategy. This event is co‑sponsored with The Bastion Institute, where Senator Ernst serves as honorary chair and Peter Rough serves on the board.

The United States–Zimbabwe relationship has been strained for decades, in part due to the government’s violent farm invasion campaign that began in earnest in 2000. Harare’s refusal to compensate most of the farmers whose land was taken is still a significant barrier to improving the bilateral relationship. Join Senior Fellow Joshua Meservey as he hosts a panel of experts to discuss the history of land expropriation in Zimbabwe, the status of the land compensation agenda, and how policymakers can rectify an issue that bedevils US-Zimbabwe relations.