1. During the Cold War, "There were people whose only job was to really understand how the Soviet leadership thought...We have to do a much better job of really understanding [#China's] calculus and how to influence it."
It's critical: we don't understand China well enough.
2/4
2. "How do we continue to reduce the number and importance of #nuclear weapons in strategy...but prevent rising powers...from ever thinking about using them?"
Also says "It's not just about nuclear weapons anymore."
It's key: the "stability question" is now more complex.
3/4
3. "The key thing is that the environment that we will encounter in the Indo-Pacific is going to be highly contested and it's going to stay contested."
Bottom line: The US needs to (re-)learn how to deter/defend effectively even if it does not dominate.
4/4
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Exactly a year ago, I took a month-long trip with my wife @LTSantoro1 & then 2-year-old daughter from St Petersburg to Beijing via Mongolia on the trans-Siberian railway & we stopped & visited multiple cities along the way.
Our trip:
1/x
Pretty much everyone told us it was a crazy idea: it's too long, dangerous & insane to do this with a 2-year-old.
Turned out to be a fantastic adventure in all aspects (& don't worry it's not the craziest thing I did).
We just had two bags like this one:
2/x
We began in St Petersburg, where I had a work meeting but still found time to visit my wife and daughter. Here are a few pictures: