The Burn Bag Podcast
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The Burn Bag Podcast
Can We Play Tough With China? Leveraging Diplomacy and Information Tactics to Our Advantage with Ret. General David Stilwell
This week, A'ndre chats with retired Air Force Brigadier General David Stilwell, who most recently served as the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs during the Trump Administration, to get his views on the current state of U.S.-China diplomacy. General Stilwell has extensive experience on East Asian affairs (having also served as Asia Advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Director of the China Strategic Focus Group at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command), and provides his perspective on why the United States needs to come at the relationship with China from a "position of strength". The retired General and diplomat provides some interesting commentary on how the U.S. Government can leverage better messaging and information tactics to gain the upper hand, emphasizing a more psychological approach to the relationship. We also discuss the state of China's military, and why General Stilwell believes a Chinese invasion of Taiwan is NOT imminent.