The Second Cold War Observatory22 Maj 2023

Technological Competition in Argentina: Nuclear Energy and Smart Cities, with Dr. Maximiliano Vila Seoane

This episode centers on competition in two technology sectors in Argentina: nuclear energy and smart cities. While they may seem like disparate sectors, Dr. Maximiliano Vila Seoane shows how both illustrate the interest of Argentine state actors in cooperating with Chinese counterparts in science & technology, specifically in areas that used to be dominated by US or Western partners. He offers a nuanced and localized understanding of how competition in these sectors is unfolding in various provinces and cities in Argentina.

Dr. Maximiliano Vila Seoane is a researcher at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council in Argentina. He is a professor at the School of Politics & Government of the National University of San Martín. His interests span cybersecurity, international politics, and development. Currently, he is interested in how the intensifying rivalry between the US and China is transforming digital capitalism, particularly in Latin America.

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China Comes to Town: Chinese Investment and Local Politics in the U.S. with Emily Conrad

Chinese investment in the United States has become an increasingly contentious issue that is much more complicated than headlines suggest. In this episode, we reflect on recent debates in Michigan’s d...

21 Aug 48min

Infrastructure, Nickel, and the Politics of Polyalignment in Indonesia

Indonesia is often framed as a key arena of China-Japan-US competition in the Second Cold War. In this episode, we talk with Trissia Wijaya about her book on the political economy of Chinese and Japan...

24 Juni 40min

Unfrozen: The Fight for the Future of the Arctic with Mia Bennett

Nowhere is the dual threat of climate change and geopolitical contest felt more strongly than in the Arctic. Sea ice is declining rapidly, wildfires are burning, and permafrost is thawing. All the whi...

11 Apr 40min

Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism with Thea Riofrancos

Lithium, a crucial input in the batteries powering electric vehicles, has the potential to save the world from climate change. But even green solutions come at a cost. Mining lithium is environmentall...

6 Jan 1h 10min

Weila Gong, "Implementing a Low-Carbon Future: Climate Leadership in Chinese Cities" (Oxford UP, 2025)

This episode explores what China’s subnational climate experiments tell us about the possibilities and limits of climate leadership in an era of intensified geopolitics. We discuss how China’s domesti...

24 Dec 202540min

The end of aid? US, China, and the future of development

In early 2025, headlines announced that the Trump administration would move to dramatically slash USAID—the United States’ flagship development agency. For many, the move was surprising, even self-def...

28 Aug 202548min

Seeing China’s Belt and Road with Ed Schatz and Rachel Silvey

EPISODE SUMMARY: What becomes visible when you shift the lens away from Beijing to how China’s Belt and Road projects unfold on the ground? Seeing China’s Belt and Road, edited by Edward Schatz and Ra...

9 Juli 202548min

Judicial Territory: Law, Capital, and the Expansion of American Empire with Shaina Potts

In this episode, we sit down with Shaina Potts, author of Judicial Territory: Law, Capital, and the Expansion of American Empire (Duke University Press, 2024)—a groundbreaking book that reveals how U....

20 Juni 202542min