ABRAHAM DENMARK - WILSON CENTER - "BEYOND NATIONALISM: CONSIDERING A CHINESE WORLD ORDER"

Date & Time Apr 18 2018 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Speaker(s)
Abraham Denmark
Audience Open to the Public

Abstract:

Xi Jinping has driven a significant evolution in major aspects of Chinese foreign and domestic policies. By considering these changes, outside observers may gain a more accurate appreciate of what a China-led world order may look like. China is emerging as a power never seen before: a wealthy, technocratic, and confident national security state based on the strictures of Leninism and with ambitions driven by a force beyond nationalism. China’s “civilizationalist” ambitions blur the lines between domestic and foreign affairs, and seek to ensure that the Chinese Communist Party is able to pursue its interests and prerogatives without restriction. A Chinese world order will therefore cast aside assumptions of liberal internationalism, and embrace a system founded on calculations of raw power, subtle influence, heterachy, and great power spheres of influence.

Bio:

Abraham M. Denmark is Director of the Asia Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, which conducts independent research and hosts frank dialogues to develop actionable ideas for Congress, the Administration, and the broader policy community on issues related to the Asia-Pacific. He also holds a joint appointment as a Senior Fellow at the Wilson Center's Kissinger Institute on China and the United States.

Prior to joining the Wilson Center, Mr. Denmark served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia, where he supported the Secretary of Defense and other senior U.S. government leaders in the formulation and implementation of national security strategies and defense policies toward the region. Mr. Denmark previously worked as Senior Vice President for Political and Security Affairs at The National Bureau of Asian Research, a Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, and held several positions in the U.S. Intelligence Community.

Mr. Denmark has authored dozens of articles and edited several books on the Asia-Pacific and U.S. national security, including several editions of the Strategic Asia book series. He has testified multiple times before the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, as well as the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. His commentary has been featured in major media outlets in the United States and in Asia, including Foreign Affairs, National Public Radio, the Financial Times, the National Interest, Foreign Policy, and the Atlantic.

In January 2017, Mr. Denmark received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service. He also received the Order of the Resplendent Banner from the Republic of China (Taiwan), was made an Honorary Admiral in the Navy of the Republic of Korea, and was named a 21st Century Leader by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy.

A Colorado native, Mr. Denmark holds an MA in International Security from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, and received a BA in History with Honors from the University of Northern Colorado. He has also studied at Peking University. He lives with his wife and son in Maryland.