Media

Older media articles are available in the Archive.
New media enquiries can be submitted via the Contact form.
Dates of publication may not be accurate.

Kevin Rudd Kevin Rudd

Review: The Avoidable War — averting a conflict between the US and China | Financial Times

Few western statesmen have enjoyed much quality time with Xi Jinping, especially as China’s president has of late retreated into pandemic-era seclusion. Kevin Rudd is one who did. “I spent a total of 10 hours in conversation with Xi in six separate meetings, including about three hours around a winter fire at the prime ministerial residence,” he writes in The Avoidable War, describing a moment back in 2010, when Xi was Chinese vice-premier and Rudd was Australia’s prime minister.

Read More
Kevin Rudd Kevin Rudd

In Conversation with Kevin Rudd | Australian Strategic Policy Institute

At the ASPI Masterclass ‘China’s emerging military and strategic capabilities’, the Hon Mr Kevin Rudd, 26th Prime Minister of Australia, delivered a keynote address on China and touched on some of the themes he explores in his new book ‘The Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict between the US and XI Jingping’s China’.

Read More
Kevin Rudd Kevin Rudd

Kevin Rudd on how to avoid war between the US and China | Brookings Podcast

In this 100th episode of Dollar & Sense podcast, former Australia Prime MinisterKevin Rudd, now president of Asia Society, discusses his new book, The Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict between the US and Xi Jinping’s China (Public Affairs, 2022). Rudd calls Taiwan the “core strategic tension” between China and the United States, discusses how the U.S. and China can manage strategic competition, looks at trade issues in the region, and describes China’s challenge to the current U.S.-led international order.

Read More
Kevin Rudd Kevin Rudd

Jan Fran Has Issues | A Rational Fear

So what does a war between US and China mean for us? Australia’s economy is very dependent on China, but we’re also besties with the US. Jan Fran interviews Kevin Rudd on his latest book ‘The Avoidable War’

Read More
Kevin Rudd Kevin Rudd

Is War With China Inevitable? | The Little Red Podcast

As Australia’s Defence Minister warns his nation to ‘prepare for war’ with China, there’s a growing feeling of inevitability about a future conflict between China and the United States. Against this rather bleak backdrop, we hear from one global figure who has had unusual access to China's leaders: Australia's former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. The President and CEO of the Asia Society, he describes himself as a Sinologist at the tables of power. He's probably the only Mandarin-speaking world leader to have one-on-ones with Xi Jinping and hear Jiang Zemin's rendition of O Sole Mio at Sydney Opera House. Rudd is publishing a book called The Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict Between the United States and Xi Jinping’s China. This episode is a live recording of his Melbourne book launch, hosted by Louisa. In it, Rudd unpacks the logic of a future war, warns of Xi's biggest vulnerability and predicts a rocky few months ahead. This event was co-hosted by the Asia Society, the Wheeler Centre and RMIT Live.

Read More
Kevin Rudd Kevin Rudd

The Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict between the U.S. and Xi Jinping’s China | National Committee on U.S. China Relations

According to Mr. Rudd, a former Australian prime minister who has studied, lived in, and worked with China for more than forty years, the relationship between the United States and China is especially volatile. It sits atop cultural misunderstanding, historical grievance, and ideological incompatibility. No other nations are so quick to offend and be offended; the capacity for either country to cross a critical line is growing rapidly.

Read More
Kevin Rudd Kevin Rudd

What's Xi Jinping really thinking? Ask Kevin Rudd, ex-PM of Australia and fluent Mandarin speaker | The Telegraph

An ageing dictator, looking to his legacy, pushes the button on a long-planned invasion of a smaller neighbour. The fiction of an “international community” is quickly exposed: some countries barely bat an eyelid, preferring the economic rewards of a close relationship; others fear that anything beyond sanctions and stern words risks escalation – the story that this dictator has spent years telling his people, about their destiny and about himself, makes this conflict existential. This is Vladimir Putin and Ukraine in 2022. Could it be Xi Jinping and Taiwan a few years hence?

Read More
Kevin Rudd Kevin Rudd

China views Russian invasion as a ‘strategic utility’, says ex-Australia PM | Financial Times

China will welcome a prolonged war in Ukraine as a “rolling strategic diversion” from its own assertiveness, according to former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, and exploit a distracted west to focus on its competition with the US. Western nations have imposed economic sanctions on Russia and supplied Ukraine with weapons following President Vladimir Putin’s invasion in February. China has refused to condemn Russia’s belligerence, drawing accusations that Beijing supported Moscow’s invasion.

Read More
Kevin Rudd Kevin Rudd

The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict between the US and China with Kevin Rudd | World Affairs Council of Philadelphia

A war between China and the US would be catastrophic, deadly, and destructive. Unfortunately, it is no longer unthinkable. The World Affairs Council of Philadelphia joined Kevin Rudd, a former Australian prime minister who has studied, lived in, and worked with China for more than forty years, to hear his insight on how the two superpowers can coexist.

Read More