How should the United States approach China and Russia?

China and Russia, the two great power challengers to the United States, have jointly and individually pursued a clear grand strategy — compete with the United States across numerous issues and geographical areas to force a reordering of the international system. Both great power rivals accordingly seek to diminish U.S. foreign policy by testing the credibility of America’s Indo-Pacific and Atlantic alliances and introducing new technologies and institutions that will transform the global economy. In response, recent U.S. foreign policy has failed to bring stability to the international order, and questions remain regarding what lengths the United States is willing to take to defend its interests and allies. How should the United States compete with China and Russia, and which national interests should President Biden pursue or defend? While there is a great deal of agreement in Washington about the scope of challenges that these two countries pose, there is not yet agreement about how to manage them or balance the need for competition and cooperation to avoid catastrophic wars.

On June 21, the Brookings Institution, together with Texas A&M’s Bush School of Government & Public Service, hosted an event to explore these issues.

Viewers submitted questions on Twitter using #ChinaRussia.