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Aspen Strategy Group Publication Explores U.S.-China as the “Most Consequential Bilateral Relationship of Our Time”

Contributors include Graham Allison, Elizabeth Economy, Jane Harman, Kay Bailey Hutchison, David Ignatius, Leland Miller, Anne Neuberger, David Petraeus, Lawrence Summers, Kent Walker, and Arne Westad.

October 29, 2025, Washington, D.C. – The Aspen Strategy Group (ASG) today published a collection of pieces emanating from the 2025 ASG Summer Workshop, an annual small, private gathering of some of the nation’s leading national security experts from across the political spectrum that takes place immediately following the Aspen Security Forum. This year, the theme was Meeting China Anew: Rethinking Assumptions and Redefining U.S.-China Strategy in a Shifting Global Landscape, focusing on the critical and continually evolving U.S.-China relationship.

The collection of papers and pieces can be read in full here. The publication features an introduction by ASG Co-Chairs Condoleezza Rice and Nicholas Burns and ASG Executive Director Anja Manuel.

“As the most consequential bilateral relationship of our time, it is imperative that we get U.S.-China policy right. Our national security and prosperity depend on it. Building on our discussions in Aspen this summer, this collection explores the U.S.-China relationship and competition across multiple domains,” said Anja Manuel, Executive Director of the Aspen Strategy Group and Aspen Security Forum.

Featuring approximately a dozen essays sparked and informed by discussions this summer, the compilation questions underlying assumptions about the bilateral relationship, examining areas of competition such as technology, trade and economics, military power, and more. Some papers are being published today, while others have been, or will be, featured in national publications. Among the commentaries:

  • Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence H. Summers explores current and present U.S. economic strategies towards China and its implications for the international system.
  • Yale historian and Ernest R. May lecturer Arne Westad examines important parallels between the rise of Germany before World War I and the rise of China now.
  • Harvard professor Graham Allison highlights present day uncertainties by posing a series of outstanding unanswered questions.
  • President of Global Affairs for Google and Alphabet Kent Walker on America’s struggle to deploy AI models compared to China, and the need to facilitate more consumer use to secure the lead in practical applications and deployment of the technology.
  • China Beige Book CEO Leland Miller on the present and future battleground for U.S.-China conflict—the war over supply chains.

Authors that published with external outlets include:

Members of the media interested in speaking to Aspen Strategy Group members about these papers should contact Ilana Drimmer: [email protected] and Jon Purves: [email protected].

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The Aspen Strategy Group’s mission is to convene decision makers in resolutely nonpartisan public and private forums to address key foreign policy challenges facing the United States. The ASG organizes its annual Summer Meeting in Aspen along with a variety of track II dialogues. It also presents the annual Aspen Security Forum, a public conference that engages current and former senior U.S. administration officials, conservatives and liberals, to take part in discussions on the most vital national security challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://www.aspensecurityforum.org.