China has been threatening war over Taiwan and has grown increasingly aggressive towards its neighbors and adversaries around the world. There has been a lot of speculation about how an authoritarian state like China would fare against a Western democracy like the United States. We discuss that plus India's relationship with Taiwan, the US-India alliance, and the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region. Joining us in this episode is Professor M.D. Nalapat, the director of the department of geopolitics and international relations at India’s Manipal University.