International relations expert聽James Stavridis聽predicts the United States will emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic 鈥渄iminished geo-politically鈥� and broadly challenged by China, but he paints a picture of hope if Americans 鈥渨ork together and pull together.鈥�
Skyping from his home in northern Florida, the retired, four-star admiral spoke Dec. 9 at a virtual聽聽event with 海角在线 President Dr. Debra A. Schwinn and former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux.
LeMieux introduced Stavridis with this unique distinction: 鈥淭here are few people in this world who鈥檝e been vetted by both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 true,鈥� responded Stavridis. 鈥淚 was vetted for vice president by Hillary Clinton. I was actually offered a cabinet post by Donald Trump鈥檚 administration. I think of that, by the way, as two bullets whizzing by my head.鈥�
Stavridis had been NATO鈥檚 16th Supreme Allied commander and 15th commander of the U.S. European Command. He spoke on the topic 鈥淕eopolitics in a Time of Global Crisis.鈥�
鈥淲e are not going to have a global meltdown鈥� as a result of the pandemic, said Stavridis. 鈥淏ut there will be winners and losers geo-politically.鈥� He predicted China will emerge stronger from this pandemic, 鈥減rincipally because they have managed to control the virus very effectively.鈥�
The U.S. will come out diminished, 鈥減rincipally because of how badly we have mishandled the virus,鈥� he said. He lamented that political gridlock 鈥渉as created this idea that somehow wearing a mask or not is a political statement.鈥� Showing a photo of his granddaughter, he said, 鈥淪he knows to put on her Minnie Mouse mask when she goes out. And she鈥檚 4 years old. We can do this, if we do it together.鈥�
Stavridis predicted China will continue 鈥渢o take a very challenging path with the U.S.鈥� He expects those challenges to include an expanded Chinese military, conflict in cyberspace, trade disagreements, advances in the global 5G network and Chinese construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea, complete with air strips and missiles.
鈥淵ou will see China use these tools aggressively,鈥� he said. 鈥淐hina will continue to expand and grow and execute their global strategy as they come out of the pandemic stronger geo-politically.鈥�
In response, he said, the U.S. must develop 鈥渁 real strategy鈥� to resolve conflicts with China. 鈥淲e should confront where we must, but cooperate where we can.鈥� Otherwise, he said, 鈥淚 fear we may stumble into a war with China about 15 to 20 years from now. We must avoid that.鈥�
Stavridis expressed optimism about how the incoming Joe Biden administration will tackle the China challenges. Biden is assembling 鈥渜uite a remarkable cabinet,鈥� a very experienced, collegial team, he said. 鈥淚 think they will be surprisingly innovative.鈥�
Though Stavridis disagrees with some of the policies he expects the Biden team to promote, he looks for the administration to lead with the values of democracy, liberty, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, gender equality and racial equality.
鈥淟ook,鈥� said Stavridis, 鈥渨e execute these values imperfectly, but they are the right values.鈥�
President Schwinn asked Stavridis where hope for the future 鈥渃an bloom the most. Where can we point the next generation?鈥�
The retired admiral responded with three ways for the U.S. to 鈥渞egain our footing鈥�:
鈥� Enhance the culture of service. 鈥淭here are many ways to serve this country.鈥�
鈥� Promote and use education more.
鈥� As voters, support candidates 鈥渨ho are willing to reach across the aisle.鈥�
Taking those steps won鈥檛 be easy, he said, but with that approach, 鈥淚 think our future is quite bright.鈥�
Photo 1: International relations expert James Stavridis joins former U.S. Sen. George S. LeMieux and University President Dr. Debra A. Schwinn via Skype for a LeMieux Center for Public Policy event.
Photo 2:聽University President Dr. Debra A. Schwinn and former U.S. Sen. George S. LeMieux interview international relations expert James Stavridis for a LeMieux Center for Public Policy event.
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