During his gold-plated visit to Saudi Arabia this week, Donald Trump made a speech in which he noted that the US would no longer be “giving you lectures on how to live,” advising the people and states of the region to establish “your own destinies in your own way.” No more nation building and interventions, no more aid and business conditioned upon democracy and human rights, and no more post-WW2 values-based international order. Money, deals, and hard power are the new policies of the United States.
The local regimes lapped this up, and autocrats and dictators around the world no doubt clapped their hands in glee, but many in the West were far from amused, alongside another very significant player: China. Indeed, while the week had started relatively well for China, with a 90 day halt on the massive tariffs Trump had imposed on it, the news that the US was adopting its playbook for global influence — money without ideology or human rights — was bad news: China had long sold itself to the global south as the power that spoke only money, without conditions.
China seeks to be a respected superpower that shapes and dominates the global order as an open rival to the US. Of that there is no doubt. However, little is known about how it thinks about this ambition and its real relationship with states and continents worldwide. Joining ELN Senior Associate Fellow, Ilana Bet-El, is a true woman leader on this issue and many aspects of China’s global policies, is Dr Ivana Karásková of the Association for International Affairs. In a great conversation, she not only gives a whirlwind tour of China in the world, but she also explains how she came to find a Central European network of experts on China and a network of women experts on China!
This episode was recorded on 13 May 2025
Chapters
- China and the US tariff war
- China and Russia relations
- Chinese perception of the US
- What are China’s ambitions for the world?
Mentions
Follow
- Ivana Karásková AMO website, X/Twitter, LinkedIn
- Instagram @women_leaders_podcast
- Our partner European Leadership Network social media Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, website
- Ilana Bet-El
Credits
- Production: Florence Ferrando
- Music: Let Good Times Roll, RA from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/ra/let-good-times-roll License code: ZXIIIJUU2ISPZIJT
The European Leadership Network itself as an institution holds no formal policy positions. The opinions articulated above represent the views of the authors rather than the European Leadership Network or its members. The ELN aims to encourage debates that will help develop Europe’s capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security policy challenges of our time, to further its charitable purposes.
Image credit: Florence Ferrando
