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In this episode Garrison speaks with Rory Truex of Princeton about China's domestic politics, the political nature of Xi Jinping, the domestic perceptions of the CCP, the threat of a Taiwan invasion, and the appropriate response from U.S. policy makers in this new Great Power era.

Rory Truex is an Assistant Professor in Princeton's Department of Politics and Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs. His research focuses on Chinese politics and theories of authoritarian rule. His book Making Autocracy Work: Representation and Responsiveness in Modern China investigates the nature of representation in authoritarian systems, specifically the politics surrounding China's National People's Congress (NPC). He argues that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is engineering a system of “representation within bounds” in the NPC, fostering information revelation but silencing political activism. Original data on deputy backgrounds and behaviors is used to explore the nature of representation, policymaking, and incentives in this constrained system. He is currently working on a new set of projects on repression, human rights, and dissent in contemporary China. His research has been published in the American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Comparative Political Studies, China Quarterly, among other journals.

You can watch Rory Truex's "Talks at Google" lecture from 2018: here.

More information on his publications and research can be found: here.



Garrison Moratto is the founder and host of The New Diplomatist Podcast; he earned a M.S. of International Relations, as well as a B.S. in Government: Public Administration (Summa Cum Laude) at Liberty University in the United States. He has had the privilege of interviewing some of the leading policymakers, thinkers, and experts of our time, including Robert B. Zoellick, Elbridge Colby, Richard Fontaine, Andrew Roberts, Ivan Briscoe, Vishnu Prakash, Rajiv Bhatia, Aparne Pande, Mohammed Soliman, Rory Truex and others.

Guest opinions are their own.

Originally recorded March 15th, 2023.

On this episode, Garrison is joined by Mohammed Soliman of the Middle East Institute to discuss his vision for the Middle East.  Or more specifically, why he has argued that the Middle East as an American strategic concept should be replaced with his concept of "West Asia".  The two discuss the intellectual origins and foundations of West Asia as a historically relevant framework built on Indo-Abrahamic transregional order.  Mohammed further explained how this new order is being developed and deployed into the new "I2U2" group of nations, how the Abraham Accords paved the way for these ideas, and what Iran and China, respectively, will do about these developments (and what could happen next).

Mohammed's two landmark publications outlining his vision for West Asia and Indo-Abrahamic relations can be found here at the MEI, and in National Interest.

Mohammed Soliman is a Non-Resident Scholar with MEI's Cyber Program and Egypt Program, and a Senior Associate at McLarty Associates’ Middle East and North Africa Practice. His work focuses on the intersection of technology, geopolitics, and business in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Mohammed frequently appears on Arabic- and English-language television to provide commentary on unfolding events in the Middle East.
A native of Cairo, Mohammed started his career as an engineer and worked as a consultant, providing strategic advisory services for local and international businesses. In Washington, DC, he has also served as a country analyst for the Peace Tech Lab at the US Institute of Peace, as a Huffington Fellow at Georgetown’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, and as a Junior Centennial Fellow at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service.
Mohammed is a 2017 recipient of the Open Society Foundation's Civil Society Leadership Award. In 2021, he was selected by the Middle East Policy Council (MEPC) as one of their 40 Under 40 Professionals Making a Difference in US-Middle East Relations. That same year, Mohammed was named to the Center for Strategic and International Studies' (CSIS) 2021 U.S. National Security & Foreign Affairs Leadership List, which honors the contributions of diverse practitioners in U.S. national security and foreign policy.

Garrison Moratto is the founder and host of The New Diplomatist Podcast; he earned a M.S. of International Relations as well as a B.S. in Government: Public Administration (Summa Cum Laude) at Liberty University in the United States.  He has had the privilege of interviewing some of the leading policymakers and experts of our time, including Robert B. Zoellick, Elbridge Colby, Richard Fontaine, Andrew Roberts, Ivan Briscoe, Vishnu Prakash, Rajiv Bhatia, Aparne Pande, and many others.
Guest opinions are their own. Originally recorded Aug. 8, 2022.

In this episode, Garrison is joined by Ali Wyne of the Eurasia Group, to discuss his landmark new book America's Great Power Opportunity: Revitalizing U.S. Foreign Policy To Meet The Challenges Of Strategic Competition.  The two discuss Wyne's background in the field, how he came to be interested with, at the forefront of, foreign policy discussions.  He discusses the meaning of great power opportunity, the benefits and drawbacks of historical analogies in foreign policymaking, and the role of human agency in history.  They also talk about the need for democratic revitalization at home, and renewing America's unique strengths abroad (and what those strengths are, in light of Russia and China). They close by discussing key strategies for escaping the reactionary trap of great powers, and implementing the principles outlined in his book for great power relations, particularly "Pursu[ing] cooperative possibilities that can temper the destabilizing effects of great-power competition."

Ali Wyne is a senior analyst with Eurasia Group's Global Macro-Geopolitics practice, focusing on US-China relations and great-power competition. He has served as a junior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a research assistant at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and a policy analyst at the RAND Corporation. Ali has also been a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and a nonresident fellow at the Modern War Institute. He received dual bachelor's degrees in management science and political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned his master in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Ali is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a David Rockefeller fellow with the Trilateral Commission, and a security fellow with the Truman National Security Project. He also serves as a member of Foreign Policy for America's Board of Directors and as a member of the American Pakistan Foundation's Leadership Council. An avid coffee drinker, Ali continues to expand his collection of coffee mugs, cups, and tumblers.

Garrison Moratto is the founder and host of The New Diplomatist Podcast; he earned a M.S. of International Relations as well as a B.S. in Government: Public Administration (Summa Cum Laude) at Liberty University in the United States.  He h as had the privilege of interviewing some of the leading policymakers and experts of our time, including Robert B. Zoellick, Elbridge Colby, Richard Fontaine, Andrew Roberts, Ivan Briscoe, Vishnu Prakash, Rajiv Bhatia, Aparne Pande, and many others.

Guest opinions are their own. Originally recorded July 15, 2022

On this first of three "From the Archives" specials, The New Diplomatist is proud to present a never-before-released episode from March 30th of 2022 with Greg Lawson, discussing Russia's War in light of history and grand strategy.  In the sweeping conversation, Greg and Garrison trace the present war in Ukraine through the lens of theory and statecraft, past and present, to yield a fascinating dialogue on the deeper geopolitical realities and forces at work in the conflict raging in Eastern Europe.  From Kissinger to Kennan, the Mongols to Taiwan, its a discussion you won't want to miss.

Greg R. Lawson is a Contributing Analyst at WikiStrat; his 2014 article "Avoiding America's Ultimate Geopolitical Nightmare" published in The National Interest was an insightful and landmark text on the burgeoning Sino-Russian axis (click here to read). He is also a Research Fellow at the Buckeye Institute; his opinions have been widely circulated in the foreign policy community amongst thought leaders in the field, including by Elbridge Colby (author of the 2018 National Defense Strategy; author of Strategy of Denial).  He is a graduate of Ohio State University.

Garrison Moratto is the founder and host of The New Diplomatist Podcast; he earned a M.S. of International Relations as well as a B.S. in Government: Public Administration (Summa Cum Laude) at Liberty University in the United States.

Guest opinions are their own. 

In this episode, Garrison was joined by Elbridge Colby, author of The Strategy of Denial and key architect of the 2018 U.S. National Defense Strategy.

They discuss an overview of Colby’s landmark book and its strategic approach to the rise of China and maintenance of U.S. national defense. In light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the two discuss the return of military hard power to European security and world order, including the drastic shift in Berlin and other European capitols towards enhanced defense, and implications for the idea of increased burden sharing. The position of denial is contrasted to the historic trend towards neo-conservative posture on one side or neo-isolationism on the other.

The two discuss the hypothetical fait accompli strategy of Beijing towards a war with Taiwan, and whether or not this describes Vladimir Putin’s intended plan for Ukraine (and lessons that holds for the PRC). Their discussion also focuses on potential pitfalls for US deterrence of a potential conflict in Taiwan given China's greater economic strength vis a vis Russia; the need to balance support for Europe while maintaining a clear higher priority for Washington to focus on China as the biggest national security challenge. The role of scarcity in defense strategy is discussed, with a key focus on the need to differentiate responses based on region, and to accommodate various allied and partner responses based on the immediacy of the respective regional threats. Further discussion focuses on the nature of the Russian military power in a ‘limited war’ and its implications for Moscow’s power projection capabilities; the warning the present crisis presents to Taipei (and questions surrounding stirring Taiwanese commitment to defense); whether taking Taiwan would be harder or easier based on geography when compared to Ukraine; and they close out the discussion on the Biden Administration's response and what must be improved towards both China and Russia.

Colby’s article from TIME Magazine can be found here:

https://tinyurl.com/colbyTIME

Elbridge Colby is co-founder and principal of The Marathon Initiative, a policy initiative focused on developing strategies to prepare the United States for an era of sustained great power competition. He is the author of The Strategy of Denial: American Defense in an Age of Great Power Conflict (Yale University Press), which The Wall Street Journal selected as one of the top ten books of 2021.

Previously, Colby was from 2018-2019 the Director of the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security. Before that, he served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development from 2017-2018. In that role, he served as the lead official in the development and rollout of the Department’s preeminent strategic planning guidance, the 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) which shifted the DoD’s focus to the challenges to U.S. military superiority and interests posed by China in particular followed by Russia, prioritizing restoring the Joint Force’s warfighting edge against these major power competitors.

Prior to this, Colby was from 2014 to 2017 the Robert M. Gates Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security and held numerous roles across the federal government. Colby is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School.

Garrison Moratto is the founder and host of The New Diplomatist Podcast; he earned a M.S. of International Relations as well as a B.S. in Government: Public Administration (Summa Cum Laude) at Liberty University in the United States.

Guest opinions are their own. Originally recorded 2/28/22

In this episode, Garrison is joined by Richard Fontaine, CEO of the Center for a New American Security, to discuss a wide range of topics about the Ukraine Crisis.

The two discuss the history of NATO expansion and Ukrainian orientation as a few of the factors influencing the timing of the present crisis; the stance of the West; and the strategic motivations behind Russia’s current aggressive posture. The two also discuss the future of potential NATO membership for Kiev, whether or not there is “trade space” regarding the subject of implied Ukrainian neutrality and so forth. They take a careful look at the questions surrounding Germany’s stance under Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and what future (if any) there is for Macron’s view of Europe as a “strategic balancer” (exercising strategic autonomy with French leadership) in light of the current security challenges facing the continent. And how has domestic politics influenced London, Berlin, and Paris in their recent stances?

In light of a potential Russian invasion the two discuss possible impacts of sanctions on Moscow and what responses (such as cyberattacks) Putin may undertake in retaliation. Most importantly, Fontaine examines the implications for the “pivot to Asia” if Putin green lights an invasion of Ukraine, and what future U.S. priorities will be in light of a renewed sense of danger in Eastern Europe. The two close by discussing what grade that Fontaine would give to the Biden administration’s handling of the Ukraine crisis and how they might improve that response.



Richard Fontaine is CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). He served as President of CNAS from 2012-2019 and previously as a Senior Advisor and Senior Fellow. He also served as foreign policy advisor to Senator John McCain for more than five years. He has worked at the State Department, the National Security Council and on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Mr. Fontaine served as foreign policy advisor to the McCain 2008 presidential campaign and, following the election, as the minority deputy staff director on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Prior to this, he served as associate director for Near Eastern affairs at the National Security Council (NSC) from 2003-04. He also worked in the NSC’s Asian Affairs directorate, where he covered Southeast Asian issues.

During his time at the State Department, Mr. Fontaine worked in the office of former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and in the department’s South Asia bureau, working on issues related to India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Mr. Fontaine began his foreign policy career as a staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, focusing on the Middle East and South Asia. He also spent a year teaching English in Japan. A native of New Orleans, Mr. Fontaine graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in International Relations from Tulane University. He also holds a M.A. in International Affairs from the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, and he attended Oxford University. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is an adjunct professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.



Garrison Moratto is the founder and host of The New Diplomatist Podcast; he earned a M.S. of International Relations as well as a B.S. in Government: Public Administration (Summa Cum Laude) at Liberty University in the United States.



All guest opinions are their own and not that of The New Diplomatist podcast formally.

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Originally Recorded Feb 7. 2022