Andrew Roberts is joined by Dan Wang, Hoover research fellow and the author of Breakneck to explore the shifting balance of global power between China, the United States, and Europe. Wang argues that China’s massive manufacturing capacity, rapid electrification, and relentless infrastructure building are giving it a growing edge—even as Western democracies struggle with regulation, litigation, and political gridlock. The conversation ranges from tariffs, engineering education, and the “vetocracy” holding back Western construction to the geopolitics of EVs, AI regulation, and China’s demographic future. They also discuss the possibility of rising populism in Europe, and whether the West can rediscover the ambitious engineering spirit that once built Hoover Dam and the Apollo program.
The Secrets of Statecraft