Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Oona Hathaway | In an article in the July/August edition of Foreign Affairs magazine, “Might Unmakes Right: The Catastrophic Collapse of Norms Against the Use of Force”, Oona Hathaway and Scott Shapiro look at the history of the prohibition of the use of force between states and discuss what they see as the current assault on this prohibition.

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Celeste Wallander | In an article in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs, “Beware the Europe You Wish For, The Downsides and Dangers of Allied Independence”, former US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Celeste Wallander, wrote on the potential downsides of Europe spending more on its own defense for the transatlantic alliance and for American foreign policy leadership.

 

To discuss her article, In July 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Celeste Wallander, Executive Director of Penn Washington. They spoke about NATO members’ greater investment in defence, the connection between defence strategy and global influence and the future of US-European relations.

 

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Luke Digweed.

 

Further reading and resources

“Beware the Europe You Wish For, The Downsides and Dangers of Allied Independence” Celeste Wallander, Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2025

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Kimberley S. Johnson | In July 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Kimberley S. Johnson, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University and the John G. Winant Visiting Professor of American Government at the University of Oxford, about the recent history of the US administrative state and racial representation in the US government and administration They also discussed the second Trump administration’s moves to dismantle Diversity, Equity and Inclusion measures in the US government as part of Project 2025.

 

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Luke Digweed.

 

Further reading and resources

Dark Concrete: Black Power Urbanism and the American Metropolis by Professor Kimberley S. Johnson (Cornell University Press, 2025) – to be published on 15 December 2025

Reforming Jim Crow: Southern Politics and State in the Age Before Brown by Professor Kimberley S. Johnson (Oxford University Press, 2010)

Governing the American State: Congress and the New Federalism, 1877-1929 by Professor Kimberley S. Johnson (Princeton University Press, 2007)

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Dr Lauren Sukin | In response to what the US sees as potential growing threats from China and North Korea, nuclear weapons are becoming a more and more important part of US alliance commitments and partnerships in East Asia. But what does this focus on nuclear weapons for both deterrence and reassurance mean for US foreign policy and for the security of the region? And could there be an alternative which puts a greater focus on conventional armed forces?

To discuss these topics, in June 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Lauren Sukin about her recent article, in the Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, with Samuel Seitz of MIT, “Deemphasizing Nuclear Weapons in Nuclear Deterrence: The Case for Conventional Counterforce”. Dr Sukin is Assistant Professor in LSE’s Department of International Relations and a Centre Affiliate at the LSE Phelan US Centre.

Further reading and resources

Seitz, S. and Sukin, L. (2025). Deemphasizing Nuclear Weapons in Nuclear Deterrence: The Case for Conventional Counterforce. Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, [online] 8(1), pp.15–35.

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Angela Zhang | In January 2025, the release of a new model and chatbot by Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company, DeepSeek, sent shockwaves through the tech industry in the US and elsewhere. DeepSeek’s launch was only one milestone in the ongoing AI competition between China and the US which has seen the US try to restrict the exports of key components used in AI development to other countries.

In the second episode of The Ballpark’s miniseries on AI and the US, the Phelan US Centre explored the ongoing AI competition between China and the US with Angela Zhang, Professor of Law at the Gould School of Law of the University of Southern California. Professor Zhang is an expert on AI regulation, both in China and globally.

They spoke about China’s current approach to AI regulation, and how this compares with the US, and why China may be content with being a “close second” in the AI race.

Further reading and resources

High Wire: How China Regulates Big Tech and Governs Its Economy by Angela Huyue Zhang (Oxford University Press, 2024)

The Promise and Perils of China’s Regulation of Artificial Intelligence, Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, 21 January 2025

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson | On May 7th, 2025, India launched missile strikes on Pakistan in response to a terrorist attack in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir on April 22nd. On May 10th a ceasefire was reached following mediation from the United States.

 

To discuss the US’ part in brokering a ceasefire, and the US’ responses to disputes between India and Pakistan over the past three decades, in June 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Lisa Curtis, senior fellow and director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.

 

The conversation covers the recent India–Pakistan crisis and the US’ role, how US involvement in the Kashmir dispute has evolved over the years, and how China’s growing influence has complicated how the US approaches India–Pakistan relations.

 

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Luke Digweed.

 

Further reading and resources

 

“How America Can Keep the Peace Between India and Pakistan”, Foreign Affairs, May 13, 2025

“Democracy in South Asia amid U.S. Aid Cuts What’s at Stake for Great Power Competition”, Center for a New American Security, May 15. 2025

Contributor(s): Dr Theresa Squatrito, Rohan Mukherjee, Agnes Yu, Farsan Ghassim, Tim Murithi | The US-led international order is under strain from without and within. Authoritarian powers such as Russia and China are challenging the core tenets of global cooperation and conflict management. Rising states of the Global South like India, Brazil, and South Africa demand reformed multilateralism in the institutions of global governance, and the US and its Western allies face a domestic surge of right-wing populism that seeks to reverse the eighty-year-old open and interdependent system of international relations. At stake is democracy, a core tenet of American political life and foreign policy.

To discuss and consider these issues, in May 2025, the LSE Phelan US Centre held the conference: International relations and Democracy in a Multipolar World. The conference brought together scholars and experts to examine how important these democratic discourses and practices are in the broader context of challenges to the US-led international order and the domestic contestation over the future direction of US foreign policy.

The conference was convened by Phelan US Centre Affiliates Dr Rohan Mukherjee and Dr Luca Tardelli of LSE’s International Relations Department, and by Theresa Squatrito also of LSE’s Department of International Relations and Mathias Koenig-Archibugi of LSE’s Department of Government.

In this episode of The Ballpark, we speak to Rohan Mukherjee and Theresa Squatrito about the main themes and takeaways from the conference. We also talked to three of the conference participants, Agnes Yu (LSE Department of Government), Farsan Ghassim (University of Oxford), and Tim Murithi (University of Cape Town), about their thoughts on the future of democracy and global governance.

This episode of The Ballpark was produced by Chris Gilson and Luke Digweed.

Contributor(s): Bhamati Viswanathan, Chris Gilson | Many institutions are now using artificial intelligence (AI) models as tools to think about solutions to a variety of challenges, from the everyday to the global. At the same time, many commentators have expressed concerns about AI and its effects on society, the economy and democracy.

In the first episode of The Ballpark’s miniseries on AI and the US, we explore the implications of AI for intellectual property. The rise of AI tools has been fuelled by the scraping of online resources as training data for the large language models that power them. This has important implications for how we think about intellectual property and the rights of those who created this training data.

To find out more, in May 2025, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Bhamati Viswanathan of New England Law Boston. Dr Viswanathan is an expert in the areas of copyright law, intellectual property, innovation and creativity law, and on cultural property and appropriation.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Luke Digweed.

Further reading and resources

ChatGPT is eating the world - https://chatgptiseatingtheworld.com/

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Michael Latner | In February 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Michael Latner, Professor of Political Science at California Polytechnic State University and Director of Research on Democratic Reform at the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School.

They discussed the recent history of voting rights and the state of democracy in America in 2025.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Luke Digweed.

Further reading and resources

Keena, A., Latner, M., McGann, A.J.M. and Smith, C.A. (2021). Gerrymandering the States. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108995849

The Guinier Project at the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute - https://charleshamiltonhouston.org/events/guinier-project-roundtable/

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, John Minnich | In March 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to John Minnich, Assistant Professor in the Department of International Relations at LSE about why semiconductors are so important in the global economy, and why the US is willing to go to what Dr Minnich terms, economic war, over them. They also discussed how the semiconductor trade is framed as a national security issue in the US and China, and how President Trump may approach the ‘chip-war’ in coming months.

 

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Luke Digweed.

 

Further reading and resources

 

Ling S. Chen and Miles M. Evers, "'Wars without Gun Smoke': Global Supply Chains, Power Transitions, and Economic Statecraft," International Security 48, no. 2 (Fall 2023): 164–204.

Disaggregating China, Inc. by Yeling Tan (2024) | Cornell University Press - https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501759635/disaggregating-china-inc/

11 November 2024 - China’s evolving approach to economic security with Professor Yeling Tan | The Ballpark podcast - https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2024/11/11/chinas-evolving-approach-to-economic-security-with-professor-yeling-tan-the-ballpark-podcast/

13 February 2023 - China’s Belt and Road with Professor Taylor Fravel | The Ballpark podcast - https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2023/02/13/the-ballpark-podcast-extra-innings-chinas-belt-and-road-with-professor-taylor-fravel/