On April 21, 2025, the College successfully hosted the Master Lecture on Global Political Economy at the Liang Kuo Shu International Conference Hall, featuring Professor Abraham Newman from the Department of Government and the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University as the distinguished guest speaker. His lecture was titled "Economic Security Under Trump 2.0."
Professor Newman is renowned for introducing the concept of "Weaponized Interdependence" in a 2019 article published in International Security, a contribution that re-centered great power politics in mainstream American research on international political economy. His work earned praise from Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman and became an important intellectual influence—via Chris Miller’s book Chip War—on the U.S. government's foreign economic control policies starting from the Trump 1.0 administration. Professor Newman currently serves as Director of the BMW Center for German and European Studies at Georgetown University and holds the John Powers Chair in International Business Diplomacy. His visit to Taiwan coincided with the release of the Chinese edition of Underground Empire, a new book he co-authored with Professor Henry Farrell.
In this lecture, Professor Newman not only engaged Taiwanese readers of Underground Empire through an interactive Q&A session, but also shared firsthand insights from Washington, D.C. on the governing logic of a potential Trump 2.0 administration. He offered clear and actionable recommendations for how Taiwan’s government and businesses can respond to the evolving landscape of economic security under Trump 2.0.
The event attracted nearly 200 registered participants from various sectors in Taiwan. The venue was fully packed, audience participation was enthusiastic, and the event received significant media coverage—highlighting the College’s strong commitment to advancing high-quality global engagement.
Link to the recording of Prof. Newman's Master Lecture on Global Political Economy, "Economic Security under Trump 2.0," delivered at the College of Social Sciences, National Taiwan University.