Monday, February 23, 2026 | 3:30 PM EST - 4:00 PM EST
David M. Lampton and Wang Jisi co-authored an article published in the March/April 2026 issue of Foreign Affairs in which they argue that the character of the U.S.-China bilateral relationship has changed profoundly. In the early 2010s the two countries moved from cautious engagement with each other to tense rivalry. Each sees the other as the primary threat to its core values, political legitimacy, and vital national interests. It is possible, however, to stabilize and normalize the bilateral relationship by making room for each other in the international system and regional security architectures.
In an interview conducted on February 23, 2026, article co-author David M. Lampton joins Steve Orlins to discuss steps that the United States and China could take to pull back from the current dangerously negative trajectory
David M. Lampton
David M. Lampton is a senior research fellow at the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute and professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). For more than two decades he was Hyman Professor and director of China Studies at SAIS. Dr. Lampton is former chairman of the The Asia Foundation, former president and current member of the board of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, and former Dean of Faculty at SAIS. His many publications deal with U.S.-China relations, and Chinese foreign policy, leadership, politics, and power. His most recent book, Living U.S.-China Relations: From Cold War to Cold War, was published in 2024. He received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University in political science and has an honorary doctorate from the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Far Eastern Studies. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve in the enlisted and commissioned ranks.