The rise of China isn’t just a foreign concern. Over the last few years, there have been multiple incidents of Chinese attacks against our homeland, from the 2023 spy balloon, to inciting the fentanyl crisis, to influencing our students and children in schools and online. What are the CCP’s political, economic, and diplomatic aims against the United States? How does Chinese Soft power influence American culture, education, and media? How is the U.S. national security compromised by China’s influence operation on America’s homeland? Addressing these questions requires multidisciplinary approach, involving experts from various domains in the complex U.S.-Chinese relationship. Amid a period of heightened U.S.-Chinese relations, speakers will dissect the litany of China’s influence operations in the United States and the importance of defending American national security at a time of China’s malign campaign for global dominance. 

In this series, the Vandenberg Coalition shifts the focus beyond the Indo-Pacific and into various regions around the world where the Chinese Communist Party continues to threaten American interests. Each episode in the series discusses China’s growing influence in a given region, how it measures against American influence, how to define our relationship with the region in light of competing priorities, and what America can and should be doing to better protect and advance our national interests.