On October 24 and 25, the UMD School of Public Policy’s Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise (CPPPE) hosted the 5th International Conference on Economics, Politics and Security of China and the USA. The conference was developed through a collaboration with the National University of Defense Technology in Changsha, China.
The goal of the conference was to conduct and present research on the US-China relationship, with the overall goal of improving the relationship. Participants came from think tanks, nonprofits, private industry and academia.
School of Public Policy Dean Robert C. Orr opened the conference by welcoming the attendees and noting the importance of the topics set to be discussed. “This is a conference that has broken ground in the past, and I expect no less this year. I expect that you will advance the thinking on important and sometimes challenging topics,” Orr said. “I can think of no more important relationship than the US-China relationship in terms of how this century will unfold.”
Dr. Zeng Li, chief engineer at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at National University of Defense Technology, delivered the keynote address and discussed military-civilian integration and technology innovation.
The conference also featured panels on U.S.-China bilateral security relations, security in the pacific and geo-strategic competition.
The School of Public Policy had several centers represented at this year’s conference. Jonas Siegel, associate director of the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM) participated in a panel on nuclear energy and nonproliferation, then CISSM Director Nancy Gallagher moderated a discussion on U.S.-China nuclear weapons and security issues. William Lucyshyn, CPPPE director of research, moderated a panel on acquisition and procurement. CPPPE Director David Mussington was moderator for a panel on cybersecurity in the 21st century, and Center for Global Sustainability Director Nathan Hultman presented a briefing on global sustainability.
On the second day of the conference, Dean Orr delivered the lunch keynote address. In his speech, Orr explored ways to solve global and national challenges by using a multi-stakeholder approach. “Public policy is a discipline and practice of evolution,” he said. “What we are witnessing is not evolutionary change, but revolutionary change. There are a lot of interest areas that could benefit from this multi-stakeholder treatment.”
Noting the success of the multi-stakeholder approach taken with climate negotiations in recent years, Orr encouraged the audience to think about their individual areas of study and how new actors can be brought into the conversation.
You can view photos from the conference on the SPP Flickr account.