Thoughts on Sino-American Relations in a Post-Pandemic World

Karl Eikenberry is the former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan and Lieutenant General, U.S. Army (retired).  He is a faculty member of Schwarzman College, (Ching-hwah) Tsinghua University, in Beijing, China, and is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Liechtenstein Institute on Self Determination at Princeton University.  Previously he was the Director of the U.S-Asia Security Initiative at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Stanford University, and for 8 years, from 2011-2019, an affiliate with the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies' - Center for International Security and Cooperation.

In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed him to become our U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan where he served until 2011. Ambassador Eikenberry had a thirty-five year career in the United States Army, retiring in April 2009 with the rank of Lieutenant General, having served in Afghanistan as Commander of the American-led Coalition forces.  He was the Assistant Army and later Defense Attaché at the United States Embassy in Beijing.

He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, has earned master’s degrees from Harvard University in East Asian Studies and Stanford University in Political Science, and was a National Security Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. Ambassador Eikenberry earned an Interpreter’s Certificate in Mandarin Chinese and has an Advanced Degree in Chinese History from Nanjing University in the People’s Republic of China.

He has numerous distinguished military and civilian awards, Honorary Doctorates, and serves on Boards of Directors with organizations all focused on improving international relations and educating the next generation of global leaders.