Professor Lyle Goldstein was the key note speaker for the sixth China’s Grand Strategy lecture who made a highly engaging case on the relations between China and the United States. An American himself he noted clearly that his views on China-U.S.A cooperation are towards the more controversial side of the spectrum when digested by an American reader. Professor Goldstein introduced himself and his lecture in Chinese which is a useful starting point in recognising his support and understanding for China’s role in various international disputes. Professor Goldstein says that American viewpoints are “getting pretty dark” and that rivalry has its own momentum in which an effort needs to be made to mitigate. From his book Professor Goldstein took the audience through his strategy ‘spirals’ for various international issues including environment, North Korea and the South China Sea.
Professor Goldstein was bold in that he not only talked about current problems, but also gave his personal proposals on how to improve cooperation. For example, with regard to North Korea he proposed a six point strategy focussed on forming negotiations between the major powers involved with the North Korea dispute. Without having to divulge into the full details, a short takeaway is that Professor Goldstein argues that cooperation starts with clarity, in this case, a greater transparency in policies between the U.S.A and China especially in the case of the South China Sea. Regarding North Korea, rash actions made are a logical course of action for a weak nation; it is for stronger nations to show wisdom and creativity to be central drivers in a negotiation strategy. Professor Goldstein backs China’s to extend a defensive umbrella and hopes for the U.S.A to withdraw a portion of troops in order to coerce North Korea to the negotiation table. When entertaining questions from the likes of Professors, PhD students and Naval Officers an interesting point was raised. Professor Goldstein described himself as a ‘Dove’ among many ‘Hawks’ in his work place, he explained that when you invite ‘Hawks’ to come to the table about war strategy, what it will look like in real terms and what are the potential outcomes they will become a lot more warm to diplomacy. “When you envision how horrible a war is, you can get closer to diplomacy.”
