Appearance on Lawfare Daily

My co-author Mike Brenes and I appeared on the Lawfare Daily podcast with Tyler McBrien, who’s a good dude. The audio version is available wherever you get podcasts (also here). The full video is available above.

It was a great conversation. More than that, of the many discussions I’ve had about great-power competition so far, this one went the deepest on our book itself (The Rivalry Peril).

This also might be the first time I’ve specified what I see as the three-part explanation for the origins of great-power rivalry with China:

• A supply-side explanation of threat perceptions (because the national security state was designed for great-power threats);

• An imperialist explanation that highlights Chinese and US economic nationalism (as a function of needing to embrace a state-driven model of capital accumulation in an era of low growth); and

• The US insistence on primacy as a grand strategy (which necessarily makes geopolitical rivals of any rising power).

It’s all addressed in the book, and I’ve mentioned this three strands in a piecemeal way, but perhaps never expressed so succinctly.

There’s a bunch more good stuff in the interview, including advice for Democrats, advice for MAGA (!), and many points that Mike brings to the table about the Cold War itself.

Have a listen!