The Charles Neuhauser Memorial Lecture

Thursday, December 10, 2009, 4:00 pm

China on the World Stage
Thomas Fingar
Payne Distinguished Lecturer, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Stanford University

China’s “rise” is a big deal. Pundits, politicians, and many scholars have declared China’s increased capabilities and engagement on the world stage to be the seminal development of the late 20th century and the foremost security challenge of 21st. Both characterizations are debatable, but one need not regard them as literally true in order to acknowledge the importance of China’s rise to the future of the international system and the need to move beyond straight-line projections and alarmist predictions. At a minimum, we need better understanding of how the international order led and maintained by the United States has facilitated and shaped China’s rise, how global institutions and increased activity on the world stage have constrained and changed Chinese political calculations, and how the rise of China will affect efforts to reengineer and reinvigorate global institutions. This lecture will challenge conventional wisdom and suggest alternative ways to think about how China’s rise and roles on the world stage are facilitated and constrained by the existing global order, why and how China’s rise—in conjunction with the rise of many other countries—will drive changes in the international order, and why and how the international system is changing China.

Thomas Fingar served as the first deputy director of national intelligence for analysis (May 2005 - December 2008) and, concurrently, as chairman of the National Intelligence Council. Dr. Fingar’s career in the State Department included serving as assistant secretary of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, principal deputy assistant secretary (2001-2003), deputy assistant secretary for analysis (1994-2000), director of the Office of Analysis for East Asia and the Pacific (1989-1994), and chief of the China division (1986-1989). Between 1975 and 1986, he held a number of positions at Stanford University, including senior research associate in the Center for International Security and Arms Control. Dr. Fingar received his PhD in political science from Stanford University and his AB in government and history from Cornell University.

Reception follows.

Location: CGIS South Building, Belfer Case Study Room, S020
1730 Cambridge Street

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