Today, Elizabeth Economy considers what Chinese autocrat Xi Jinping fundamentally wants in global affairs; Peter Berkowitz draws on Founding-era documents to dispute the claim that the maxim “might makes right” should guide US foreign policy; and Hoover shares insights from a recent gathering of county-level policymakers from across the nation, examining top policy challenges faced by American communities.
Freedom Frequency
In the latest episode of China Considered Quick Takes, Senior Fellow Elizabeth Economy examines a deceptively simple question: What does China want? As Xi Jinping claims the world is undergoing “great changes unseen in a century,” Economy argues that it is the United States—under a newly articulated global vision from Donald Trump—that is now driving the most consequential shifts in the international system. Economy challenges the familiar assumption that US retrenchment inevitably creates space for China to step in as global leader. Beijing, she explains, does not seek to become the world’s policeman or to replicate America’s record of foreign aid and global stewardship. Instead, Xi has five clear objectives: 1) reclaiming disputed territory; 2) displacing the United States in the Asia-Pacific; 3) dominating global technology and economic power; 4) reshaping the geostrategic landscape; and 5) setting the rules in emerging frontier domains. This arrangement would confer to China all the rights, but not all the responsibilities, of being a global superpower. Watch or read more here.
Political Philosophy
In his weekly column for RealClearPolitics, Senior Fellow Peter Berkowitz responds to White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller’s recent suggestion that “might in foreign affairs makes right.” Berkowitz argues, “America’s founding principles and constitutional traditions reject that cynical assessment in favor of the notion that might should serve freedom.” Drawing on primary sources from the 18th century, Berkowitz shows that “America’s founders rejected the equation of right with might.” For example, “President George Washington underscored in his 1796 Farewell Address that in the United States, power is exercised for the sake of liberty and not the other way around.” Berkowitz concludes that Miller and his colleagues “should keep American freedom—very much including accompanying necessities such as the friends and partners vital to defending it in a dangerous and exceedingly interconnected world—central to national-security and foreign-policy deliberations.” Read more here.
Hoover Institution News
Dozens of officials from counties across America gathered at the Hoover Institution December 8–9, 2025, to discuss challenges facing US municipalities in a rapidly changing world. County leaders and their senior staff members gathered to hear from a wide selection of Hoover experts on topics including relations with China, the rise of generative AI, election administration challenges, US foreign relations, and the future anticipated strain on public employee pension funds. Representatives hailed from Georgia, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas, among other states. This State and Local Leadership Forum, hosted by the Hoover State and Local Governance Initiative in collaboration with the National Association of Counties, provided an opportunity to disseminate Hoover scholarship to policymakers at the county level. Read more here.
Law & Policy
“If a person breaks a speech-neutral law in order to record and publish something, his motivation generally doesn't give him any First Amendment right to break the law. That's true as to trespass laws, wiretapping laws, and more,” wrote Senior Fellow Eugene Volokh in a blog post over the weekend. The First Amendment scholar followed that post with another, constructing a hypothetical using facts “closely drawn from the allegations (which of course at this point are just allegations) in the Don Lemon indictment” concerning the reporter’s involvement in a major disruption of services at a Minneapolis church. Volokh alters the facts “to reflect the hypothetical right-wing disruption of [a] mosque rather than a left-wing disruption of a church.” After laying out key facts, Volokh asks, “Would you be inclined to think that the livestreamer is guilty of conspiring with others to physically obstruct the worship services?” Read more here.
Politics, Institutions, and Public Opinion
“In Term Two, Year Two, presidents generally lose popularity, and their parties lose seats in one or both chambers of Congress,” writes Senior Fellow Niall Ferguson at The Free Press. He supports this claim by reviewing the sixth-year challenges faced by Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, George W. Bush, and Obama. “The big exception is Clinton, who extricated himself from a morass of sexual scandals thanks to a combination of brazenness, good economic data, and Republican miscalculation,” the historian writes. Turning to the present administration, Ferguson concludes, “Trump has the first two. But he will be able to repeat Clinton’s feat only if his political opponents overreach the way [former House Speaker Newt] Gingrich’s GOP did.” Read more here. [Subscription required.]
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