Events

The Avoidable War: the dangers of a catastrophic conflict between the US and Xi Jinping's China

Hosted by the School of Public Policy

Online and in-person public event (MAR.2.08, Marshall Building)

Speaker

Kevin Rudd

Kevin Rudd

President and CEO of Asia Society and former Prime Minister of Australia

Chair

Professor Tony Travers

Professor Tony Travers

Associate Dean of the LSE School of Public Policy

Join Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia, as he discusses his new book, The Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict between the US and Xi Jinping's China, with Andrés Velasco.

A war between China and the US would be catastrophic, deadly, and destructive. Unfortunately, it is no longer unthinkable. The relationship between the US and China, the world’s two superpowers, is peculiarly volatile. It rests on a seismic fault—of cultural misunderstanding, historical grievance, and ideological incompatibility. No other nations are so quick to offend and be offended. Their militaries play a dangerous game of chicken, corporations steal intellectual property, intelligence satellites peer, and AI technicians plot. The capacity for either country to cross a fatal line grows daily. 

Kevin Rudd, a former Australian prime minister who has studied, lived in, and worked with China for more than forty years, is one of the very few people who can offer real insight into the mindsets of the leadership whose judgment will determine if a war will be fought. The Avoidable War demystifies the actions of both sides, explaining and translating them for the benefit of the other. Geopolitical disaster is still avoidable, but only if these two giants can find a way to coexist without betraying their core interests through what Rudd calls “managed strategic competition.” Should they fail, down that path lies the possibility of a war that could rewrite the future of both countries, and the world.

Meet our speaker and chair

Kevin Rudd (@MrKRudd) is President and CEO of Asia Society and has been President of the Asia Society Policy Institute since January 2015. He served as Australia's 26th Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010, then as Foreign Minister from 2010 to 2012, before returning as Prime Minister in 2013. Rudd graduated from the Australian National University with honors in Chinese studies, and is fluent in mandarin. He also studied at the National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei.

Tony Travers is Associate Dean of the School of Public Policy at LSE.

More about this event

The LSE School of Public Policy (@LSEPublicPolicy) equips you with the skills and ideas to transform people and societies. It is an international community where ideas and practice meet. Their approach creates professionals with the ability to analyse, understand and resolve the challenges of contemporary governance.

You can purchase the book, The Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict between the US and Xi Jinping's China, outside the venue on the day of the event and you can also order it online here (UK delivery only) from our official LSE Events independent book shop, Pages of Hackney.

The event will be followed by a book signing with the author.

Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEKevinRudd

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