Profs and Pints DC presents: “China to Our South,” on a rival superpower’s emergence as a key player in Latin America and the Caribbean, with Leland Lazarus, former diplomat in China and the Caribbean, former researcher and instructor on U.S.-China relations at Florida International University, and author of Dragon in the Americas: China’s Power, Presence, and Regional Influence.
Across Latin America and the Caribbean, China is helping build ports, digital networks, energy projects, space facilities, and supply chains for the critical minerals that power life. Along with creating opportunities, these investments are shifting influence and altering diplomatic relationships, security dynamics, and the balance of power in the United States’ neighborhood.
Learn about the implications of China’s growing investment and influence in the Western Hemisphere at a talk that will go beyond the headlines and simplistic narratives of China as either a predatory threat or a benevolent development partner.
The speaker, Leland Lazarus, is a former special assistant to two commanders of U.S. Southern Command who has spent more than a decade researching China’s engagement with the Western Hemisphere.
In accessible, nonpartisan terms he’ll seek to answer two fundamental questions: Is China’s growing role in the Americas primarily an economic opportunity, a strategic challenge, or both? And what should the United States do to remain a trusted, competitive partner without forcing the region to choose sides?
He’ll discuss how China’s regional presence affects trade, technology, migration, crime, and U.S. national security.
Drawing on examples from across the hemisphere, he will explain why ports and undersea cables matter, how Beijing competes with Taiwan for diplomatic recognition, where Chinese companies and criminal networks intersect, and how Latin American and Caribbean countries are navigating relationships with both the U.S. and China.
You’ll emerge from the talk with a clearer, more nuanced understanding of a transformation already underway just beyond our borders and why it matters to all of us. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.)
Image by Canva.