The worst thing America can do against China is nothing | Dan Blumenthal

China spent a generation turning the openness of the system America built into a weapon, capturing supply chains, stealing intellectual property, and funding a military rise while Washington looked elsewhere. Dan Blumenthal, Director of Asian Studies at AEI, breaks down China's grand ambitions, its demographic and economic decay, and the below-threshold strategy aimed at Taiwan. His warning for the United States is that the worst move in this competition is doing nothing. Chapters 00:00 | A Cold War tactical truce 01:42 | How America missed China’s rise 02:39 | Weaponizing an open order 05:29 | How China defines victory 10:25 | The China nightmare thesis 16:46 | Overstretch and the industrial base 18:38 | Winning without fighting 20:26 | The cost of doing nothing 24:12 | Where AI and autonomy fit 28:24 | America’s strengths versus China About the guest Dan Blumenthal is Director of Asian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he has led work on US foreign, economic, and defense policy in Asia for over two decades. He is a former DOD official who served as Senior Director for China and Taiwan, and a former Commissioner and Vice Chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He is the author of The China Nightmare: The Grand Ambitions of a Decaying State and serves on the board of the US-Taiwan Business Council. Resources mentioned: The China Nightmare: The Grand Ambitions of a Decaying State American Enterprise Institute US-Taiwan Business Council Connect with Dan Blumenthal:   / dan-blumenthal-9a139153   Subscribe to Defense Disrupted for more conversations on defense technology, edge AI, and national security.