Seeking Truth Through Facts 2022: The Avoidable U.S.-China War – A Conversation with Condoleezza Rice and Kevin Rudd
Program 4 of 8 in our Seeking Truth Through Facts U.S.-China Program Series
Hoover Institution, STANFORD UNIVERSITY, October 6, 2022 — Former Prime Minister of Australia and Asia Society President and CEO Kevin Rudd and former Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice sit down for a special conversation about his new book, The Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict between the U.S. and Xi Jinping’s China.
In a packed auditorium with a crowded overflow room, Rudd and Secretary Rice discussed the peculiarly volatile relationship between the U.S. and China, which rests on a seismic fault of cultural misunderstanding, historical grievance, and ideological incompatibility.
The Avoidable War demystifies the actions of both sides, explaining and translating them for the benefit of the other. Geopolitical disaster is still avoidable, but only if these two giants can find a way to coexist without betraying their core interests through what Rudd calls “managed strategic competition.” Should they fail, down that path lies the possibility of a war that could rewrite the future of both countries, and the world.
This event is the fourth of eight in our popular Seeking Truth Through Facts U.S.-China Program Series, which focuses on new strategic frameworks for the bilateral relationship, as well as the global impact of the political and economic landscape. This program will lead up to our annual Future of U.S. & China Conference on January 12, 2023.