Show Notes
In this episode, Chris, Melanie, and Zack look at U.S. policy toward China. What does the United States, that is Donald Trump, want from China? What should the Trump administration be willing to compromise on to get it? And what does Trump need that China would be willing to give up? Grievances for President Trump's tasteless social media post following the murder of Rob and Michele Reiner; for those who bet on war (and rig the maps to win); and for the Pentagon's attacks on Sen. (and retired Navy Captain) Mark Kelly for daring to suggest that people in the military shouldn't follow unlawful orders. Speaking of unlawful orders, attas to Sen. Kelly and others calling out the Trump admin's dubious case for striking boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific. Plus a shout out for reporters covering the Trump administration, who manage to break news despite the hurdles.
Show Links:
Derek Scissors and Zack Cooper, "Trump vs China is taking a turn," Washington Post, December 16, 2025.
Lily Kuo, "From Chips to Security, China Is Getting Much of What It Wants From the U.S.," New York Times, December 12, 2025.
Saif Khan, Tao Burga, Tim Fist, and Georgia Adamson, "Should the US Sell Hopper Chips to China?" Institute for Progress, December 7, 2025.
Nick Cleveland-Stout, "Think tanker altered Ukraine war map before big Polymarket payout," Responsible Statecraft, December 11, 2025.
Al Weaver and Filip Timotija, "Senate GOP Grows Uneasy as Pentagon's Kelly Escalates," The Hill, December 17, 2025.
Jonathan Gilbert, "China Buys Rare Argentine Wheat Cargo as Milei Trims Tariffs," Bloomberg, December 14, 2025.
Alan Beattie, "Donald Trump Stiffs Farmers and China Stiffs Donald Trump," Financial Times, December 15, 2025.
Susannah Savage, "Donald Trump's Tariffs Intensify Strain on US Farmers, Deere Warns," Financial Times, December 10, 2025.
More from Net Assessment
On this episode, Chris, Melanie, and Zack consider the question of military victory. Is there such a thing? Is military victory achievable for either Russia or Ukraine? And if so, at what cost? And will we ever see a war that ends in unconditional surrender? Grievances for President Trump's plan to end the war in Ukraine by siding with China and Russia; the Saudi's dissembling on the threats to the Kingdom; and the latest stories of corruption within the Trump administration. Attas to the Ukrainians who rescued a wounded soldier by drone, to Anthony Scaramucci for lasting twice as long in his job as Katie Zacharia, and to Stimson's Evan Cooper – who is getting married! Congrats to Evan and Grace.
As the artificial intelligence revolution advances and the Trump administration questions the value of outside experts, think tanks are facing a worsening supply-demand imbalance. Chris, Melanie, and Zack discuss a recent Anthropic report outlining different economic scenarios and apply its lessons to better understand how AI will transform think tanks and the broader foreign policy community in Washington. Chris welcomes members of Congress questioning funding for the Iran War, Melanie criticizes the administration for massively subsidizing a steel mill in Iowa, and Zack laments civilian leaders for involving the military in political messaging. Show Links: "Scenarios for Our Economic Future," Anthropic, September 2026.
With Zack out collecting frequent flyer miles, Tom Karako joins Chris and Melanie to discuss the Lead Inspector General Report on Operation Epic Fury. When the war began in February, were the administration's stated objectives aligned with the resources needed to fight it? Are they now? What does America's use of so many high-end weapons tell us about our strategy? And what can we learn about the activities of the State and Treasury Departments during the war? Chris has a grievance for corruption in defense contracting, Tom remembers the late Sen. Jon Kyl, and Melanie wishes Capitals hockey player Alexander Ovechkin would stop campaigning for Vladimir Putin. Show Links:
In this show, the Net Assessment crew ponders the Global War on Terror (GWOT). Twenty-five years after 9/11 and five years after the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. what lessons have we learned about warfare? Does our experience in Afghanistan, and now in Iran, demonstrate that the American military has an outsized fixation on lethality? To better prepare for future conflicts, how should strategists think about how adversary human networks behave? Attas for former Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, and grievances for Argentina's Javier Milei threatening to retake the Falklands. *The Net Assessment Podcast is hosted by the Stimson Center and produced by University FM. Show Links: Jonathan Schroden, What Have We Learned from the 9/11 Wars? Not Nearly Enough, War on the Rocks, August 17, 2026.
The team sits down to talk about the new OSTP report, Science: A New Golden Age. What role should the government have in the scientific enterprise? What should national scientific goals be? It is time to integrate new funding models into research and development, or does that unacceptably increase the risk for politicization of science? Does the report's emphasis on breakthroughs that benefit the public more quickly ignore the importance of foundational research?