Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020 – Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020

07:30 PM – 08:30 PM
US/Central

China and the United States are world powers without serious rivals. They eye each other warily across the Pacific; they communicate poorly; there seems to be little natural empathy. They form the defining geopolitical contest of the 21st century: America values strategic decisiveness; China values patience. America has abandoned multilateralism; China welcomes it. In 2020, the relationship is even more tense than ever due to the rapid growth of Chinese economic, technological, and military power; the aggravation of the coronavirus pandemic on existing relations; and a fraught political atmosphere amid the ongoing U.S. presidential election season. In these circumstances, is confrontation avoidable? And if it happens, is the outcome already inevitable?

Join Asia Society as Kishore Mahbubani, a diplomat and scholar with unrivaled access to policymakers in Beijing and Washington, discusses his recent book Has China Won?: The Chinese Challenge to American Primacy, in which he presents the deep fault lines in the relationship and offers an honest appraisal of the strengths and weaknesses, and superpower eccentricities, of the U.S. and China.

---

Schedule

Thursday, August 20, 2020
7:30 p.m. Moderated Discussion
8:10 p.m. Audience Q&A — Questions welcome via YouTube Live and Facebook Live

Sign up to receive a reminder email about this program:

Sign Up

---

About the Speaker

Kishore Mahbubani is a veteran diplomat, student of philosophy, and author of eight books. He is currently a Distinguished Fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. His careers in diplomacy and academia have taken him from Singapore’s Chargé d'Affaires to wartime Cambodia (1973-74) and President of the UN Security Council (Jan 2001, May 2002) to the Founding Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (2004-2017).

Mahbubani writes and speaks prolifically on the rise of Asia, geopolitics and global governance. He has also been a prolific author, having published eight books: Can Asians Think?, Beyond The Age Of Innocence, The New Asian Hemisphere, The Great Convergence, Can Singapore Survive?, The ASEAN Miracle (co-authored with Jeffery Sng) and Has the West Lost It?. His latest book, Has China Won?, was released on 31st March 2020. His articles in the New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, and Foreign Affairs have earned him global recognition as “the muse of the Asian century.” Since his 1998 debut Can Asians Think?, he has challenged conventional wisdom on the big questions of our time.

Mahbubani has been listed among the world’s top 100 public intellectuals by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines and among the Top 50 individuals who would shape the debate on the future of capitalism by the Financial Times. He was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in October 2019. More information can be found on www.mahbubani.net.

Moderator information will be announced.

---

Asia Society hosts today's leading voices, providing commentary on events in news, society, and culture. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect Asia Society views.

---

Asia Society Texas Center Business & Policy Programs, Endowed by

Huffington Foundation

Business and Policy programs at Asia Society Texas Center are presented by Bank of America, Muffet Blake, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, United Airlines, and Wells Fargo. Major support comes from Nancy C. Allen, Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen, Nancy Pollok Guinee, and Mary Lawrence Porter, as well as The Brown Foundation, Inc. and Houston Endowment. Additional funding is provided by the Friends of Asia Society Texas Center, a dedicated group of individuals and organizations committed to bringing the best in public programming.

Business & Policy Presenting Sponsors

---

About Asia Society at Home

We are dedicated to continuing our mission of building cross-cultural understanding and uplifting human connectivity. Using digital tools, we bring you content for all ages and conversations that matter, in order to spark curiosity about Asia and to foster empathy.

---

About Asia Society Texas Center

With 13 locations throughout the world, Asia Society is the leading educational organization promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among the peoples, leaders, and institutions of Asia and West. Asia Society Texas Center executes the global mission with a local focus, enriching and engaging the vast diversity of Houston through innovative, relevant programs in arts and culture, business and policy, education, and community outreach.