In the past sixty-seven years, China has made a phenomenal transformation through a careful blend of capitalism and a centrally planned economy. China’s 2025 technology program and One Belt, One Road initiative underscores her ambitions for hegemony. Yet, as China takes its place in the modern world, it faces immense difficulties: a growing inequality gap, widespread corruption, and rampant pollution, poorly supervised wet markets, all of which provoke mounting calls for political reform. The presentation will examine the future of U.S.–China relations in light of ongoing conflicts in trade, military, Covid, and other issues. We will examine China’s past, from ancient times onward, and explore its history, philosophies, and traditions to try to better understand the underlying forces that explain China today. 

China’s Quest for Primacy in the 21stCentury  - November 16th - 6:30PM

Tributary System, China Diplomatic Corps, Trade Strategy, Global FDI, Alternative Financial System, Military, Propaganda, Cyber Espionage, Nationalism, Hainan Trade Center, Xinjiang & Tibet, Taiwan 

Blueprint for Leadership: US China Foreign Policy Moving Forward - November 23rd - 6:30PM

Economic Interdependence, Decoupling vs Collaboration, Rebuilding US State Dept, Renewing US Alliances and Participation in Global Organizations, TPP, Paris Agreement, Iran Agreement, Domestic Programs, US Debt and Fiscal Policy. 

About the Presenter:

James Levey is a former partner at American China Mercantile and Senior Manager at IBM and Amdocs. He holds a Masters in China Studies from the Asian Institute, St. John’s University, New York and has travelled to China extensively on business. In 2018, he developed a new curriculum (reviewed by China experts at Columbia University), that spans Chinese history from antiquity to present, to enable a more insightful view of “China in the Modern World.” He is now lecturing at public libraries and continuing education centers in major metro regions, and working to introduce China Studies into the public school’s curriculum.