In this episode of the New Ideal podcast, Ben Bayer interviews Scott McDonald, an international relations PhD candidate at Tufts University and an expert on Chinese political theory and foreign policy.

Among the topics covered:

• Scott McDonald’s background and current work on the subject of Taiwan;
• The current state of relations between Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China (PRC);
• The pragmatism that led to America’s decision to withdraw diplomatic recognition of Taiwan;
• The consequences of America’s betrayal of Taiwan for its broader foreign policy;
• How Taiwan adopted American values in spite of this betrayal;
• The prospects of war in the Taiwan Straits;
• The likely consequences of a war between the PRC and Taiwan;
• The influence of Chinese philosophy on PRC geopolitical decisions;
• The “social metaphysics” (second-handedness) of Chinese philosophy;
• The pragmatism and altruism of current American foreign policy
• Ayn Rand’s comments on the values betrayed by American policy on Taiwan.

0:00:00 Introduction
0:01:19 Scott McDonald's background
0:03:27 Current Taiwan-PRC relations
0:13:18 Pragmatism in American Taiwan policy
0:19:56 Results of America's betrayal
0:23:37 Taiwan's adoption of American values
0:29:30 Prospects of war in Taiwan Strait
0:33:03 Likely outcome of Taiwan-PRC war
0:35:28 Chinese philosophy's Influence on PRC
0:42:04 "Social metaphysics" in Chinese thought
0:47:57 Pragmatism, altruism in American policy
0:52:12 Ayn Rand's comments on Taiwan