Mike Froman is president of the Council on Foreign Relations and former U.S. Trade Representative. He joins ChinaTalk for the first time to discuss:
Why his 1992 dissertation on détente is suddenly relevant again – and why “positive linkage” fails to change adversary behavior,
How mutual assured destruction has shifted from nuclear weapons to rare earths, supply chains, and technology, and why the U.S. and China are stuck in a costly, uncomfortable stalemate,
Trump’s unorthodox use of economic leverage and America’s resilience problem,
CFR’s new cross-fellow initiatives on China, economics, and open-source analysis,
Plus: an inside look at how think tanks work — salaries, funding, and what to expect from Mike Froman’s tenure leading the CFR.
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1:01:00
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1:01:00
Second Breakfast: Habemus NDAA!
We've got a full house with Tony, Justin and Eric today. We get into:
The hottest NDAA takes on the airwaves (DFC, OSC, AUKUS, Taiwan, contested logistics, Xi's money)
Tony has an amazing tv pitch for the deposed dictator White Lotus
SOCOM creatine and super soldiers
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1:04:09
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1:04:09
Overfit: NeurIPS Vibes, Research Doesn't Matter, OpenAI Cooked?
Nathan and Jasmine debrief from NeurIPS San Diego, where we of course threw the best party.
outtro music: we're on a boat https://suno.com/s/dkulmuRvScACxObX
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1:00:25
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1:00:25
Emergency Pod: H200s to China with Dmitri Alperovich
It's never over with Trump...Dmitri Alperovich of the Silverado Policy Accelerator comes on to discuss Trump's decision to allow the export of H200s to china.
outtro music, a fan song to Jameison Greer: https://suno.com/s/yTi5R7xDRcM7p2ho
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43:14
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43:14
Second Breakfast: Trump's National Security Strategy + Hegseth's Second Strike
First half on the national security strategy you can read here https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-National-Security-Strategy.pdf
26:18 we get into the second strike
Tony's Taiwan baseball podcast rec: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6s26btM3CFq7FgUUmdECST?si=gMIOtaZxSPKYzk5qCNMePQ
Kimi said I should set the song to veggietales, so I did. https://suno.com/s/P4XaZR6f1mphSrkP
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Conversations exploring China, technology, and US-China relations. Guests include a wide range of analysts, policymakers, and academics. Hosted by Jordan Schneider.
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