When peace, or at least a halt on the invasion in Ukraine arrives, how will it come about?

Could an ascendant China – perhaps the one power positioned to do so – play the essential role of mediator?

UW-Madison historian Al McCoy thinks so. It’s the subject of his latest article on the subject, published earlier this month in TomDispatch.

He joins Allen Ruff on the program for a conversation about a “forever war” in Ukraine, the potential dealmaking of President Xi Jinping, and the significance of peace conferences not just in resolving conflicts but in signaling the arrival of a new world power taking center stage.

About the guest: 

Al McCoy is the Harrington Professor of History at UW-Madison. He’s the author of numerous works on global geopolitics, US imperial policy and practice, European colonialism in Southeast Asia, the illegal global drug trade, CIA cover operations, and the question of torture.

He’s author of more than a dozen books and countless articles. His most recent title is “To Govern the Globe: World Orders and Catastrophic Change” (Haymarket Books, 2021), which explores the interplay of sovereignty, human rights, and energy in the succession of empires and global systems.

Photo courtesy Chuttersnap on Unsplash. 

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