SOPHIA ROOKSBERRY
Staff Writer
The past decade has been quite busy for Miles Yu. During the first Trump administration, he served as principal China policy advisor under Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Since then, he has held positions at think tanks across the country, such as director of the China Center at the Hudson Institute and visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution. In addition to these roles, Yu has taught military history and modern China at the U.S. Naval Academy for 32 years.
“My job is to basically force [my students] to think globally and to realize the vital mission they will be carrying on once they graduate from the academy,” Yu said. “That forced me to focus on … geopolitical strategy globally, because the U.S. Navy is the most globally oriented service of America’s military.”
At 10:45 a.m. today, Yu will trade his collegiate lecture hall for the Amphitheater stage as he engages Chautauquans in another morning lecture on the week’s theme of “Global Power and Our Evolving International Order.”
“The impact of the United States on global affairs has been tremendous, and I think most Americans are not aware of that … specifically the extent to which America is vital in global peace [and] the American economy is vital to global commerce, the extent to which American ideals are incredibly inspirational, exemplary and also subversive to regimes that are the opposite of the model of governance in the United States,” Yu said.
In addition to these themes, Yu’s lecture will explore how American citizens and their government can use the nation’s influence for the greater international good.
“We have to really figure out what we can do to promote global peace and prosperity, [and] in the meantime, to avoid some of the pitfalls we have been doing in the past,” Yu said. “I think to understand the global dynamics is very important, so that is basically what I want to talk about, and mostly about the U.S.-China rivalry. I’ll talk about the nature of that, I’ll talk about how we place the U.S.-China dynamic in the historical pattern of American struggle for its voice and also for its global prominence, and why this rivalry is very unique and very daunting.”
Yu’s career-long fascination with China dates back to his birth in the Anhui province and upbringing in Chongqing, a municipality in southwestern China. Yu said he grew up during the “most devastating period” of the People’s Republic of China and then gained a new perspective by moving to the U.S. during one of the country’s most polarizing presidencies.
“I came here during the Reagan years,” Yu said. “… I have firsthand experience of the two systems … and that gave me a very important advantage in formulating American policy when I served in the government … I have a strong understanding of Americans’ values and principles, and deeply appreciate them. I think, in contrast, many of my colleagues, either in academia or in government, understand the area and the regions or countries of their expertise … but they really do not have a very solid understanding of their own country.”
As a week of global conversation begins to wind down, Yu hopes to bring his historical mindset to the Institution and leave Chautauquans thinking about their place in the geopolitical context of the world.
“We should not just study geopolitics in contemporary terms,” Yu said. “The most important thing is to study history, to put what we do today in a historical perspective, and then that will give us a sense of direction and purpose.”
