This is a course to help future business leaders understand the policy risks that result from the changing relationship between the United States and China. Driven in part by policy decisions over the past decade in Washington and Beijing, the world built by the West after World War II is changing. Most American policymakers now label the relationship between the U.S. and China as one of strategic competition. They are often less clear on whether this term applies to the governments, the peoples, the businesses based within each country, or the two nation-states. At the same time, these two superpowers also have shared interests. We seek to understand the changing relationships between the U.S. and China, and what both competition and possible cooperation between their governments mean for others. American business leaders may be caught between two governments with conflicting interests. Business leaders in other countries may be caught among three governments: America, China, and their home-country government. This is a course not about China per se, but instead about the interactions between these two superpowers' governments and policies. We will look at the U.S.-China relationship by unpacking and examining distinct elements, devoting 1 or 2 class sessions on each topic. Relying in part on guests with practical expertise in some element of the U.S.-China relationship, our goals are to understand:* The most significant changes in Chinese policy direction in the Xi era;* Changes among Western leaders' policy approaches as they have realized their GSBGEN 50-year-old policy toward China either was wrong or is now out-of-date;* What the strategic competition label might mean and how it could translate into specific policy changes in both countries;* What opportunities exist for cooperation and mutual benefit despite strategic competition;* How China might try to change the post-WWII international rules and organizations;* How leaders of global businesses, in the U.S., China, and other countries, are caught between these two governments;* What decoupling in certain industries might mean; and* Possible ways to think about these issues as the U.S.-China relationship evolves.
4 units · GSB Letter Graded
This is a course to help future business leaders understand the policy risks that result from the changing relationship between the United States and China. Driven in part by policy decisions over the past decade in Washington and Beijing, the world built by the West after World War II is changing. Most American policymakers now label the relationship between the U.S. and China as one of strategic competition. They are often less clear on whether this term applies to the governments, the peoples, the businesses based within each country, or the two nation-states. At the same time, these two superpowers also have shared interests. We seek to understand the changing relationships between the U.S. and China, and what both competition and possible cooperation between their governments mean for others. American business leaders may be caught between two governments with conflicting interests. Business leaders in other countries may be caught among three governments: America, China, and their home-country government. This is a course not about China per se, but instead about the interactions between these two superpowers' governments and policies. We will look at the U.S.-China relationship by unpacking and examining distinct elements, devoting 1 or 2 class sessions on each topic. Relying in part on guests with practical expertise in some element of the U.S.-China relationship, our goals are to understand:* The most significant changes in Chinese policy direction in the Xi era;* Changes among Western leaders' policy approaches as they have realized their 50-year-old policy toward China either was wrong or is now out-of-date;* What the strategic competition label might mean and how it could translate into specific policy changes in both countries;* What opportunities exist for cooperation and mutual benefit despite strategic competition;* How China might try to change the post-WWII international rules and organizations;* How leaders of global businesses, in the U.S., China, and other countries, are caught between these two governments;* What decoupling in certain industries might mean; and* Possible ways to think about these issues as the U.S.-China relationship evolves.
Offered in Spring 2026 at Stanford University.