So What’s the Strategy for China?

Host Matthew Kroenig is joined by Kurt Campbell, chairman and co-founder of The Asia Group, to discuss former President Joe Biden’s strategy toward China, the Trump administration’s strategic approach to Beijing, and Donald Trump’s upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Campbell most recently served as the 22nd US deputy secretary of state. Previously, as assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, he was widely credited as the architect of the US “pivot to Asia.”

Listen to So What’s the Strategy wherever you get podcasts

Host Matthew Kroenig, vice president and senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, sits down with senior US and allied officials and leading experts to explore the strategies shaping today’s most pressing global security challenges. Inspired by General Brent Scowcroft, who famously asked his team “So what’s the strategy?” the series dives into how leaders think about power, policy, and the decisions shaping the future of international security. Watch and listen wherever you get your podcasts.

So What’s the Strategy Podcast

The strategies behind the world’s toughest security challenges, explained by the leaders shaping them.

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I was wrong about fighting China in 2025. But the US still isn’t ready for that fight.

By Mike Minihan

A retired US general reflects on his earlier and controversial prediction that the United States and China were headed for conflict.

China Conflict

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What the Indo-Pacific thinks of the new US National Defense Strategy

By Atlantic Council experts

Our Indo-Pacific experts share how US allies and partners in the region are reacting to the United States’ latest National Defense Strategy, which calls for them to take on a more active role in their own security.

Conflict Defense Policy

Public Event Mon, March 23, 2026 • 10:00 am ET

Kurt Campbell on what to expect from Trump’s Beijing visit

As Trump and Xi gear up to meet in Beijing, Chairman and Co-Founder of the Asia Group and former Deputy Secretary of State Kurt M. Campbell will sit down with Atlantic Council Global China Hub Senior Director Melanie Hart to share insights on what goes into preparing for a US-China leadership summit.

China Economy & Business Politics & Diplomacy Technology & Innovation

The Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security works to develop sustainable, nonpartisan strategies to address the most important security challenges facing the United States and the world.

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Image: US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping as they hold a bilateral meeting at Gimhae International Airport, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, in Busan, South Korea, October 30, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein