Chairman of the Universe? Xi’s Global and Galactic Agenda | Fall 2025 Conference

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The Council of American Ambassadors invites you to listen to the second panel of our fall 2025 conference. The topic of the conference was "Bullies without Borders: China, Iran, and Russia."

Our second panel, entitled "Chairman of the Universe? Xi's Global and Galactic Agenda," explored something front of mind for many in Washington and abroad -- the United States - China relationship. The panel considered the role of Taiwan as a geopolotical lynchpin. Specifically, each speaker weighed in with their estimates on a) what military scenario would be most likely if China attacked Taiwan and b) what is the timeframe for this to take place?

Listen in to hear their thoughts!

About the Panelists:

Moderator: Michael O’ Hanlon, Ph.D. 

Dr. Michael O’Hanlon holds the Philip H. Knight Chair in Defense and Strategy and serves as director of research in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution. He focuses on U.S. defense strategy, military force, and national security policy. He is also a senior fellow, director of the Strobe Talbott Center on Security, Strategy, and Technology, and co-director of the AfricaSecurity Initiative. O’Hanlon teaches at Georgetown and Columbia Universities and served on the Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board (2021–2025) and the CIA’s external advisory board (2011–12). 

His 2023 book, Military History for the Modern Strategist, explores U.S. wars since 1861, with a 2024 paperback edition adding earlier conflicts. Other books include The Art of War in an Age of Peace, Defense 101, and TheSenkaku Paradox. His writing appears in major journals and newspapers, and he frequently provides media commentary on defense issues. 

O’Hanlon was previously an analyst at the Congressional Budget Office and earned his Ph.D. in public and international affairs from Princeton. A former Peace Corps volunteer in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he taught physics in French. He grew up on a dairy farm in Upstate New York and once tried— unsuccessfully— to challenge Einstein’s theory of relativity in college. 

Panelists:

Patricia M. Kim, Ph.D. 

Dr. Patricia M. Kim is a fellow at the Brookings Institution with a joint appointment to the John L. Thornton China Center and the Center for Asia Policy Studies. A leading expert on Chinese foreign policy, U.S.-China relations, and East Asian security and politics, Dr. Kim co-leads Brookings’ Global China Project, which examines China’s expanding influence on the global stage and formulates strategic recommendations for how the United States should respond to actions that impact key American interests and values. Prior to joining Brookings, Dr. Kim served as a senior China specialist at the United States Institute of Peace, where she led a project on U.S.-China strategic stability and directed research on China’s growing footprint in Africa and the Middle East. She has held fellowships at the Council on Foreign Relations, Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and the Princeton-Harvard China and the World Program. 

Dr. Kim’s research and commentary have been featured in Foreign Affairs, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and other major outlets. She is a frequent advisor to U.S. policymakers and has testified before the House Intelligence Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade. 

She holds a Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University and a B.A. with highest distinction in Political Science and Asian Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Brendan Mulvaney, Ph.D. 

Dr. Brendan Mulvaney is the Director of the China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI).  CASI is a U.S. Department of the Air Force institution, located at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. CASI’s mission is to support the U.S. Department of Defense and other U.S. government agencies by providing expert analysis of China's aerospace forces, capabilities, and strategy, particularly the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF). Dr. Mulvaney is a Marine who served for a quarter of a century, where he flew more than 2000 hours as an AH-1W Cobra pilot.  He is an Olmsted Scholar who studied at Fudan University in Shanghai, China, where he earned his Ph.D. in International Relations.  He and his wife Samantha live in Alexandria, and have twin boys in college.  

Brent Sadler 

Brent Sadler is a Senior Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, where he focuses on maritime security and emerging technologies shaping the future of naval forces. He brings 26 years of experience in the U.S. Navy, including operational tours on nuclear-powered submarines, service on the personal staffs of senior Department of Defense leaders, and assignments as a military diplomat in Asia. A 1994 honors graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy with a degree in Systems Engineering and a minor in Japanese, Sadler was selected as a 2004 Olmsted Scholar in Tokyo. He earned an M.A. from Jochi University and an M.S. from the National War College, graduating with distinction and earning multiple writing and research awards. 

Throughout his career, Sadler played key strategic roles. He established the Navy Asia Pacific Advisory Group (NAPAG) in 2011 and later contributed to the Defense Department’s Third Offset strategy. While at United States Pacific Command (2012–2015), he led efforts on maritime strategy, helped launch the Maritime Security Initiative, and revised United States-Japan Defense Guidelines as a Council on Foreign Relations Fellow. He also led the Commander’s Rebalance Task Force, securing over $12 billion in defense funding. 

As Senior Defense Official and Naval Attaché in Malaysia, he expanded U.S. military ties and led critical crisis responses. His final Navy role was in the Pentagon’s China Branch.