The U.S.-China relationship: The Basics of U.S. Foreign Policy in Asia featuring Dr. Zack Cooper

The U.S.-China relationship is increasingly becoming under scrutiny because of China's increasingly powerful economy and military. The relationship between the two countries has been complex, and varied from positive to highly negative. The relationship is of economic cooperation, hegemonic rivalry in the Indo-Pacific, and mutual suspicion over each other's intentions. Each nation has adopted a wary attitude regarding the other as a potential adversary but has meanwhile maintained an extremely strong economic partnership. To help explain some of the important aspects of the relationship and the region, we interview Dr. Zack Cooper who is a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he studies US strategy in Asia, including alliance dynamics and US-China competition. He also teaches at Georgetown University and Princeton University, codirects the Alliance for Securing Democracy, and cohosts the “Net Assessment” podcast. He is currently writing a book that explains how to predict the future path of US-China military competition by examining how militaries change during power shifts. Before joining AEI, He was the senior fellow for Asian security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a research fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. He also served as assistant to the deputy national security adviser for combating terrorism at the National Security Council and as a special assistant to the principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy at the Department of Defense.