Hoover Institution (Stanford, CA) — Three leading scholars of the Hoover Institution have essays in the latest edition of Foreign Affairs.
The cover of the May/June issue of Foreign Affairs, issued six times per year by the Council on Foreign Relations, features essays by senior fellows Elizabeth Economy and Steven Kotkin, as well as a piece coauthored by distinguished visiting fellow Matt Pottinger.
In “China’s Alternative Order,” Economy writes about the various ways China uses initiatives such as its Belt and Road Initiative to supplant and replace US global leadership and purge Western values from international institutions. She argues that while China has seen mixed results from its efforts, the United States should not dismiss them or rest on its laurels.
In “The Five Futures of Russia,” Stephen Kotkin plots five possible courses for Russia’s future. Among them, Kotkin writes, Russia could become a “large North Korea” or resemble post-Revolutionary France. He also suggests that Russia’s growing ties to China could turn Russia into a vassal of that ascendant state. Depending on the outcome of its invasion of Ukraine, Russia could retrench into its nationalist tendencies. Finally, Kotkin writes of a “chaos” scenario where the Russian state descends into dysfunction and possible disintegration.
Finally, with “No Substitute for Victory,” Matt Pottinger and outgoing congressman Mike Gallagher argue the United States should deviate from its current efforts at détente with China and aim instead for an approach akin to Reagan’s challenge to the Soviet Union.
With all three essays, Hoover Institution scholars offer valuable insights into the geopolitical challenges of the moment.
