The Trump administration has emphasized the reemergence of great power competition as the organizing principle for U.S. foreign policy. What scholarship should inform its understanding of how to compete with China and Russia? And how will international relations change in an era when new actors are challenging the status quo?

The history of great power politics can provide some clues. Over time, states have risen above rivals and fallen to new challengers—but the transitions have not always been disastrous, nor even violent. Some states have successfully managed their decline, while others have resorted to aggressive posturing, or even war, to try to maintain their status at all costs.

Join us as four distinguished scholars discuss their recent work on the history and future of great power relations.