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This February, the United States Institute of Peace Senior Study Group on Strategic Stability released its 2025 report, Sustaining the Nuclear Peace. The study concludes that Russia and China have developed new ways of war built on a belief in the utility of nuclear weapons for broad purposes that encompass not just deterrence but also coercion and defeat. Further, the report concludes that a new axis is emerging. The US no longer faces a China problem and a separate Russia problem. Any crisis or conflict involving one adversary will likely involve the other, either directly or indirectly. And, because the United States has been slow to come to terms with this reality, the risk of nuclear use in war is increasing. Finally, the study recommends that policymakers urgently prioritize deterrence and prepare to enhance the United States’ ability to defend its vital interests and those of its allies if deterrence does fail. At Hudson, cochairs Dr. Brad Roberts and Dr. Rebeccah L. Heinrichs, study group member Dr. Christopher Ford, and Scowcroft Group Principal Frank Miller will discuss the report and its recommendations.
Southeast Europe, where Russia and Communist China have long sought to strengthen their foothold and expand their malign influence on the Continent, is a test case for a Russia-free, resilient European energy future. The region is becoming the gateway for liquefied natural gas imports from the United States, which could fully replace Russian gas by 2027. The region is also a major hub for US investment in next-generation clean energy technologies. With expanding artificial intelligence–driven data centers and innovation partnerships, Southeast Europe is making important contributions to European resilience and transatlantic ties.
Join Hudson Senior Fellow Matt Boyse for an event with Bulgarian Minister of Energy Zhecho Stankov, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation President Dr. Robert D. Atkinson, and Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) Energy and Climate Program Analyst Marius Koeppen. They will discuss recent developments in the region and CSD’s latest risk assessments. Ruslan Stefanov, program director and chief economist at CSD, will provide opening remarks.
The Chinese Communist Party is an opaque authoritarian regime that many observers mistake as monolithic. But behind the image of strongman leadership lie precarious factions, power struggles, and a dangerous tension between reform and stability. Few figures in modern Chinese history embody these contradictions more vividly than Hu Yaobang, a former party official who was forced to resign due to his alleged tolerance of pro-liberalization protests. Join Senior Fellow Michael Sobolik for a conversation with Robert Suettinger and Piero Tozzi about Suettinger’s book The Conscience of the Party, which explores how Hu’s story illuminates the broader patterns of CCP factional struggle. They will discuss what Hu’s experiences and legacy can teach policymakers about contemporary CCP power struggles, purges, and the ongoing tension between reformist impulses and the pursuit of stability under Xi Jinping.
Over the past decade, the United States and Canada have emerged as the world’s leading producers of oil, natural gas, uranium, and other critical energy inputs. This strength has undercut authoritarians’ leverage in energy markets, providing allies with new options. Yet challenges remain in securing critical minerals, diversifying global supply chains, and advancing innovation. With the Group of Seven energy ministers set to meet in late October, Hudson Institute and the Center for North American Prosperity and Security (CNAPS) will host a forum on North America’s role in global energy security and economic resilience. This discussion will examine the policies and priorities driving transatlantic energy strategy, North America’s unmatched resource base and the opportunities this gives Washington, Ottawa, and Mexico City, and the geopolitical stakes of ensuring continued North American leadership.
The world’s two largest economies remain deeply interdependent even as they race toward greater self-sufficiency. Recently, the United States and China reached a fragile détente in their trade war, anchored by China’s agreement to resume rare earth magnet exports and America’s lifting of technology export controls. This captures the paradox of US-China competition: mutual reliance collides with mutual distrust as both sides build up their supply chains for critical minerals and advanced technology. Beijing’s integrated control over rare earths and other processing chokepoints reflects a deliberate, long-term strategy. Meanwhile, Washington’s shifting mix of tariffs and export controls suggests a more reactive, ad hoc approach. Is that contrast real or overstated? What lessons have emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, semiconductor shortages, and other disruptions? What more should the United States do—through reshoring, friend-shoring, and public–private partnerships—to forge a credible path to resilience? How might a US-China trade deal, potentially at a fall summit, alter this competition and the broader strategic rivalry? And finally, how can Washington leverage international relationships and tools like the Defense Production Act to secure its leadership in technology? Senior Fellow Nadia Schadlow will join leading experts on supply chains and US-China competition for a panel discussion of these questions, moderated by Asia-Pacific Security Chair Patrick Cronin.
China is undertaking an unprecedented strategic nuclear breakout and refuses to engage in productive discussions about its nuclear intentions. Meanwhile, Russia has announced it will no longer observe the Treaty Between the United States and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START). Moscow has since violated New START’s verification provisions and could have grown its stockpiles of nuclear warheads beyond the treaty’s limits. The National Institute for Public Policy (NIPP) recently published A New Strategic Review for a New Age, which concludes that the US has a legal right and strategic imperative to terminate the New START Treaty, which expires in February 2026. The study also recommends ways the US can adapt its nuclear forces to increase the credibility of its deterrent and maintain peace. Join Dr. Rebeccah L. Heinrichs, senior fellow at Hudson Institute, and Dr. Keith Payne, president and cofounder of NIPP, for discussion about the report’s analysis and recommendations.
The Trump administration has taken unprecedented measures to increase the pressure on Venezuela’s repressive Maduro regime, which illegitimately maintained power despite losing the July 2024 election. The United States has doubled the bounty on Nicolás Maduro’s capture to $50 million, designated two Venezuelan criminal groups as foreign terrorist organizations, and deployed naval assets to the southern Caribbean to disrupt drug trafficking operations. Most recently, the US stationed 10 F-35 fighter jets and other assets in Puerto Rico. Washington’s escalation is a response to the continued threat the criminal regime poses. Maduro’s Venezuela has emerged as Latin America’s greatest destabilizing force, serving as a major sanctuary for transnational criminal organizations, a critical node in international drug trafficking networks, and a strategic foothold for Russian and Chinese influence projection. What does America’s show of force mean for its broader strategy toward Venezuela? Could sustained US pressure fundamentally alter the political dynamics within the regime? Can outside pressure sufficiently weaken Maduro’s grip on power? Join Adjunct Fellow Daniel Batlle and a panel of experts as they examine these questions.
After decades of growth, global electricity access has hit a downturn in recent years, especially in Africa. Roughly half the population of sub-Saharan Africa still lacks electricity, limiting access to water and modern medicine and preventing the expansion of industry. Yet international organizations like the International Energy Agency and the World Bank have prioritized reducing emissions over eliminating poverty. Many development agencies stopped granting loans or finance for projects that either produce fossil fuels or burn them to generate electricity. This has forced more sub-Saharan Africans to burn wood, dung, or biomass, sources that produce more emissions, pollution, and health risks than fossil fuels. The West’s refusal to fund fossil fuel energy in Africa has also created an opportunity for China to increase its influence on the continent. Hudson’s Zineb Riboua will host Professor Brenda Shaffer, faculty member of the US Naval Postgraduate School and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center, to discuss international energy policy shifts that can help address the challenge.
In February 2025, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Donald Trump announced the US-India COMPACT (Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce, and Technology) for the Twenty-First Century. Though India is not an American security ally, changing geopolitics have drawn the two democracies closer together in the last two decades. Stronger defense and military partnership benefits both parties’ core strategic interests. The US and India have expanded their joint military exercises, defense trade, and cooperation in the defense tech arena. But the two countries can do more. Dr. Aparna Pande will host an expert panel to discuss how Washington and New Delhi can increase security collaboration to bolster security both bilaterally and multilaterally in the broader Indo-Pacific region. This event is part of the Motwani Jadeja US-India Dialogue Series funded by the Motwani Jadeja Family Foundation.
In May, Nippon Steel finalized the terms of its historic $26 billion partnership with United States Steel. Nippon Steel agreed to make invaluable investments and introduce cutting-edge technology in U.S. Steel’s facilities. By doing so, the partnership will strengthen the American steel industry, help workers and communities, and promote American national and economic security. It is an integral part of the administration’s larger efforts to revitalize American industry. To celebrate this achievement, Hudson Institute’s Japan Chair will welcome the decision-makers and stakeholders who made the deal possible: Senator David McCormick (R-PA) and representatives from Nippon Steel, U.S. Steel, and the Pittsburgh community. First, Senator McCormick and Executive Vice President Joel Scanlon will discuss why the senator supported this partnership, the deal’s significance for Pennsylvanian and American industrial policy, and how it advances US national security and relations with Japan. Then, Japan Chair Deputy Director William Chou will sit down with representatives from both companies and the local community. They will talk about why this deal supports American workers and communities, the major capital and technological investment, and how Nippon Steel’s investment advances American industrial and economic strength.
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