Kurt M. Campbell, Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, to Speak on U.S.-China Relations at the 2026 Hagel Lecture

President Biden’s “Asia czar” to offer insight and context to the relationship that affects global economics, technology, and security.

By Sarah Steimer

The relationship that the United States has with China may be the most consequential of our time. To better understand the wide-ranging impacts of this dynamic, the 2026 Hagel Lecture will feature Kurt M. Campbell, the former U.S. deputy secretary of state. This year’s lecture — the fifth in the annual series — will bring former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel into conversation with Campbell about Asia, moderated by Robert Pape, Director of the Chicago Project on Security and Threats.

“Our conversation with Secretary Campbell and Secretary Hagel could not be happening at a more important time for America's relationship with China,” Pape says. “There's so much at stake.”

The lecture, America's Role in Asia: Prospects for Peace and Stability in the Context of War with Iran, will be held April 17, around the anticipated date of President Donald Trump’s upcoming summit with President Xi Jinping. The event also comes on the tail of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that declared parts of Trump’s tariffs illegal, and ahead of China’s target 2027 date for a military takeover of Taiwan. Add to this China’s progress with artificial technology, robotics, and electric vehicles, how U.S.-China relations play out will have wide-ranging effects on economics, technology, and security.

“The relationship between the United States and China is the most pivotal great power relationship in the world,” Pape says. “America remains the No. 1 country in the world, but fast on America's heels is China, and in some areas, it's possible China may even be ahead.”

Campbell’s experience offers a deeper understanding of where U.S.-China relations stand and what is at stake as the two nations compete. Prior to serving as the U.S. deputy secretary of state from 2024 to 2025, Campbell was deputy assistant advisor to President Joe Biden and National Security Council coordinator for the Indo-Pacific from 2021 to 2024. Often referred to as Biden's "Asia coordinator" or "Asia czar," Campbell was chief architect of the administration’s Asia strategy. Previously, he served as assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs under President Barack Obama, and was the chairman and CEO of The Asia Group, a strategic advisory firm focused on the Asia-Pacific region that he founded in February 2013. In addition to rejoining The Asia Group in February 2025, he was also appointed a distinguished fellow in diplomacy at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service in March of last year.

Pape expects the conversation will stay attuned to two particular contexts. First, a focus on current events such as the summit between President Trump and President Xi. Second, the lens will widen further to understand the impacts of the relationship on and of U.S. allies in Asia and other states in the region. As Pape explains, the power dynamics between the U.S. and China are being shaped within a multifaceted, substantive context — but also in a multilateral, international context.

This Hagel Lecture will be held on campus at Friedman Hall in the Rubenstein Forum and streamed across the globe, including to military audiences through a partnership with the United States Military Academy. The event is free and open to all. Register here.

Previous Hagel Lectures focused on U.S. foreign policy with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in 2019, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul in 2023, former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson in 2024, and former CIA Director William J. Burns in 2025.