China’s commercial maritime dominance is unprecedented in modern history. Its shipbuilding industry is more than 200 times larger than that of the United States. Last year, it won three-quarters of the world’s shipbuilding orders and delivered three ships to the Chinese navy for each ship American shipbuilders completed for the US Navy. China’s commercial fleet is about 10 times larger than that of the US, and China has ownership interests in more than 100 ports outside of China, including at every maritime chokepoint. This maritime dominance gives China extraordinary power to manipulate vital supply chains.

Jennifer Carpenter, president of the American Waterways Operators and the American Maritime Partnership, will join Senior Fellow Michael Roberts to discuss how America’s maritime industry can help counter China’s shipping and shipbuilding dominance.

Despite economic reforms and anti-corruption initiatives pursued by Fidel Castro’s successors, the kleptocracy established in the country’s 1959 communist revolution persists. Front companies controlled by the military and security services continue to dominate the Cuban economy. Although the regime blames US sanctions for the island’s ongoing economic and humanitarian crisis, recent reporting suggests that these regime-connected entities have illicitly hoarded billions of dollars.

While the secretive nature of Cuba’s regime means that the inner workings of its kleptocracy are not widely understood, the costs of corruption are fully apparent to Cuba’s population. Nationwide protests in recent years suggest that the regime’s kleptocracy, once a tool for entrenching its power, now undermines its legitimacy and has become a major vulnerability.

As the Trump administration indicates a “tough” new approach toward Havana, join Hudson for an expert discussion on how kleptocracy operates in Cuba and its implications for American policy.

China’s control of commercial shipping and shipbuilding gives it a potentially decisive military advantage over the United States. The Chinese navy can build and repair its fleet for a fraction of the cost the US would incur. If competition ever turns into conflict, China could use its maritime dominance to choke the American economy and scale up its fleets at an extraordinary pace.

Hudson will welcome Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Todd Young (R-IN) to discuss their proposal to restore America’s shipping and shipbuilding industries to help deter Chinese aggression.