Napoleon was right when he noted “China is a sleeping giant. Let her sleep for when she awakes, she will move the world.” She has indeed awakened though too many Americans linger clueless about how powerful she has become and how dangerous this can be. She is the world’s second-largest economy with nuclear arms. Churchill called Russia a “riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” It is a superpower mired in the savage, botched invasion of neighboring Ukraine. It possesses more nuclear weapons than anyone else yet is obsessed with its own declining political and economic status. And America? It remains the foremost global power in history yet is riven by internal political discord and unsure of not only its power but what to do with it. China and Russia appear to be drawing closer to one another, what should be our response? Three nuclear powers: one rising, one falling, one wondering. They are like scorpions in a bottle, each with the capacity to kill the other, but itself die in the stinging. These talks explore the inter-relationships among the three, assess what is behind the rise and fall, and ask what do we have to fear and hope.

Dr. Herbert Gooch is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at California Lutheran University. He formerly served as Director of the Masters in Public Policy and Administration program and Assistant Provost for Graduate Studies at Cal Lutheran. A graduate of U.C. Berkeley in History, he holds a M.B.A in Management and both masters and doctoral degrees in Political Science from U.C.L.A. He has written extensively and is a frequent commentator on political affairs locally and statewide. He has been at Cal Lutheran since 1987 and lives in Newbury Park with his wife. His interests include politics, film and travel.