Political Leadership & The Future of U.S. China Relations
Both China and the United States are now ruled by personalistic autocratic leaders, which creates both risks of conflict and the possibility of improved relations. Xi Jinping and Donald Trump may meet as many as four times during 2026. What can we expect from this period of intense high-level diplomacy between the leaders of the two superpowers?
Dr. Susan Shirk, research professor and director emeritus of its 21st Century China Center at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy, will speak on current U.S. and China relations at Soka University on Thursday 5 March 2026 at 6:00 P.M. Moderated by Bill Edwards, International Business Expansion Problem Solver, Strategist, and Chair of the World Affairs Council of Orange County, this is sure to be an engaging dialogue on the current climate between two super powers- U.S. and China.
*An intimate private dinner with Dr. Shirk in Aliso Viejo following the program. Top supporters to our organization and the Academic World Quest student fund will receive invitations when they RSVP for the program.
Those who are interested in attending or hosting are invited to contact Jayne@worldaffairscouncil.org
Meet the Speaker
Susan Shirk is research professor and the chair emeritus of the 21st Century China Center, an academic research center and university-based policy think tank at the School of Global Policy and Strategy, UC San Diego. She first visited China in 1971 and has been researching and engaging with China ever since. She is the author of many books, including most notably The Political Logic of Economic Reform in China, China: Fragile Superpower, and Overreach: How China Derailed its Peaceful Rise published by Oxford University Press. In 2023, Overreach won the Lionel Gelber Prize for the best book in English on international affairs from the Munk School, University of Toronto, and the Silver Medal for the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Book Award for books making an outstanding contribution to the understanding of foreign policy or international relations. From 1997-2000, Dr. Shirk served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs, with responsibility for China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mongolia. Shirk co-chairs a task force of China experts whose most recent report is “Avoiding War Over Taiwan.” She is also co-chair of the UC San Diego Forum on U.S.-China Relations, an ongoing high-level forum focused entirely on the U.S.-China relationship. She received the 2021 Joseph J. Kruzel Memorial Award of the American Political Science Association for her distinguished career in national security affairs as an academic and public servant. Shirk also was chosen for the Association for Asian Studies Distinguished Contributor to Asian Studies Award in 2024. Shirk is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, received her M.A. in Asian Studies from UC Berkeley, and received her Ph.D in Political Science from M.I.T.
