Rethinking America's Greatest Enemy: How Cooperating With China Could Save the World

🌐 Can two rival superpowers cooperate their way out of humanity's biggest threats? Crises of capitalism are pushing human civilization toward its breaking points, presenting what sociologist William Armaline calls overlapping threats to human survival: climate change and nuclear war, both potentially made worse by the destabilizing effects of frontier AI. Yet the conversation in Washington and Silicon Valley remains fixated on treating China as our greatest existential rival. In this talk, Armaline, Professor of Sociology and founder of the Human Rights Institute at San José State University, argues that the world cannot survive this great power rivalry. Solving climate change, preventing nuclear war, and regulating dangerous new technologies will require real cooperation and coordination between the United States and China. For the U.S., Armaline says, this means fundamentally rethinking its relationship with China and rejecting the traditional geopolitics of imperial competition. The good news, he argues, is that the American and Chinese people can achieve remarkable things together. 🕊️ ​🕰 Event Details ​​​​​What should I expect? 7:00-7:35 --> arrival & chats 7:35-8:20 --> lecture 8:20-9:00 --> q&a and more chatting ​​​​​Who's invited? Anyone with an interest in learning new things, meeting new people, and doing fun things on weeknights! Lots of people came solo to our last event, so don't be afraid to do the same—you’ll meet some awesome people! ​​​​​What about parking?