NICHOLE JIANG – STAFF WRITER
Michael Pillsbury, who has several decades of experience with handling U.S. and China relations, is set to give a lecture at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 30 in the Amphitheater. Pillsbury served as President Donald Trump’s key adviser on U.S. strategy with China and is a senior fellow and director for Chinese strategy at the Hudson Institute.
Pillsbury is a distinguished defense policy adviser who not only served as assistant undersecretary of defense for policy planning, but who was also responsible for the implementation of the program of covert aid known as the Reagan Doctrine during the Reagan administration.
He also had a part in President Jimmy Carter’s decision in 1980 to initiate military and intelligence ties with China.
Additionally, Pillsbury also served as a special assistant for Asian affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense under President George H. W. Bush.
Furthermore, Pillsbury has also helped draft the Senate Labor Committee version of the legislation that created the U.S. Institute of Peace in 1984.
He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Pillsbury’s experience and credibility have led him to write and publish multiple books and reports on China including The Hundred-Year Marathon: China’s Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower.
During his lecture on June 30 in the Amp, Pillsbury will discuss the challenges and obstacles that diplomats and politicians face while navigating the relationship between the U.S. and China, and what the U.S. should do in response to China.
“From his having the ear of President Trump as a top adviser on China strategy, to the influence of his book The Hundred-Year Marathon, Michael Pillsbury is a critical voice in our understanding the history and current state of the U.S.-China relations and, most importantly, why this relationship is perhaps the most pressing foreign policy issue going forward,” said Matt Ewalt, vice president and Emily and Richard Smucker Chair for Education.
Before Pillsbury played a crucial role in politics and U.S. and China relations, he graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in history with honors in social thought. He then attended Columbia University for his master’s degree and doctorate.
Pillsbury was mentored by various influential and credible people during his time at Columbia, such as Zbigniew Brzezinski and Michel Oksenberg. Both played key roles in many presidential administrations on policy toward both China and Afghanistan.
