TAPPED: A Managed Cold War

Hagar Chemali (Former spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations) joins Host Ron Steslow to unpack Xi Jinping's state visit to Washington—and why the two powers keep meeting more often while agreeing on less. They begin with the administration's turn from tariffs to hospitality, and why a quickening calendar of summits signals not warming ties but a conflict neither side can resolve—with Beijing playing the longer game. Next, they examine the fragile trade truce beneath the pageantry—why rare earths and chip controls are ultimately questions of military advantage, and what it means that a crisis-communications pact remains unsigned. Then they compare the two governments' diverging readouts on Iran, Taiwan, and trade, and Xi's offer to host 100,000 young Americans—a soft-power play that could complicate the pipeline of future U.S. China experts. Finally, they debate whether the language of "competition" obscures a fundamentally adversarial relationship, and how the way Americans talk about China became a partisan question. POLITICOLOGY+ Not yet a Politicology+ member? Don’t miss all the extra episodes on the private, ad-free version of this podcast. Upgrade now at politicology.com/plus. SPONSORS & PROMO CODES: https://bit.ly/44uAGZ8 Send your questions and ideas to podcast@politicology.com Ron Steslow on X: https://x.com/RonSteslow Hagar Chemali on X: https://x.com/HagarChemali Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices