Expert to Discuss
U.S. Relations with China

As the new Obama Administration begins to make decisions about U.S. foreign policy, international affairs expert Thomas Christensen proposes that former President George W. Bush's strategy toward China should be built on and not altered radically. He will discuss his recommendation in a presentation at the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum on Monday, Mar. 9. The public portion of the program begins at 6:45 p.m., with free seating on a first-come basis.
The United States currently uses the combination of a strong U.S. regional presence and a series of creative diplomatic initiatives to encourage Beijing to seek increased influence through diplomatic and economic interactions, rather than coercion, and to use that increased influence in a manner that improves the prospects for security and economic prosperity in Asia and around the world. This effort has been successful, in part, because Washington handled deftly many of the traditional issues in the bilateral relationship, such as economic frictions or tensions between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland.
Christensen is professor of politics and international affairs and director of the Princeton-Harvard China and the World Program at Princeton University. From 2006 to 2008, he served as deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs with responsibility for relations with China, Taiwan, and Mongolia. Christensen has served on the board of directors and the executive committee of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. He also is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2002, Christensen was presented with a Distinguished Public Service Award by the United States Department of State.
A consultant, researcher, and teacher, Christensen focuses on international security, international relations with East Asia, and China's foreign relations. His book, Useful Adversaries: Grand Strategy, Domestic Mobilization, and Sino-American Conflict, 1947-1958, analyzes why relations between the U.S. and the Chinese were hostile in the first decade of the Cold War.
The Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies is sponsoring Christensen as CMC's Freeman Foundation Visiting Professor of Asian Affairs.