China’s commercial maritime dominance is unprecedented in modern history. Its shipbuilding industry is more than 200 times larger than that of the United States. Last year, it won three-quarters of the world’s shipbuilding orders and delivered three ships to the Chinese navy for each ship American shipbuilders completed for the US Navy. China’s commercial fleet is about 10 times larger than that of the US, and China has ownership interests in more than 100 ports outside of China, including at every maritime chokepoint. This maritime dominance gives China extraordinary power to manipulate vital supply chains.

Jennifer Carpenter, president of the American Waterways Operators and the American Maritime Partnership, will join Senior Fellow Michael Roberts to discuss how America’s maritime industry can help counter China’s shipping and shipbuilding dominance.

Despite economic reforms and anti-corruption initiatives pursued by Fidel Castro’s successors, the kleptocracy established in the country’s 1959 communist revolution persists. Front companies controlled by the military and security services continue to dominate the Cuban economy. Although the regime blames US sanctions for the island’s ongoing economic and humanitarian crisis, recent reporting suggests that these regime-connected entities have illicitly hoarded billions of dollars.

While the secretive nature of Cuba’s regime means that the inner workings of its kleptocracy are not widely understood, the costs of corruption are fully apparent to Cuba’s population. Nationwide protests in recent years suggest that the regime’s kleptocracy, once a tool for entrenching its power, now undermines its legitimacy and has become a major vulnerability.

As the Trump administration indicates a “tough” new approach toward Havana, join Hudson for an expert discussion on how kleptocracy operates in Cuba and its implications for American policy.

China’s control of commercial shipping and shipbuilding gives it a potentially decisive military advantage over the United States. The Chinese navy can build and repair its fleet for a fraction of the cost the US would incur. If competition ever turns into conflict, China could use its maritime dominance to choke the American economy and scale up its fleets at an extraordinary pace.

Hudson will welcome Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Todd Young (R-IN) to discuss their proposal to restore America’s shipping and shipbuilding industries to help deter Chinese aggression.

Japan’s first minority government in three decades faces dynamic domestic and international challenges. For Tokyo to navigate these major security, diplomatic, and economic issues, policymakers will need to understand perspectives from across the Japanese political spectrum.

Japan Chair Kenneth R. Weinstein will moderate a bipartisan panel featuring Japanese Diet members: Itsunori Onodera, Shinijiro Koizumi, and Kimi Onoda of the Liberal Democratic Party; and Koichiro Gemba of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. They will discuss how the Japanese government should approach domestic political questions, its partnership with America, and Japan’s role in the world.

Boualem Sansal, a French Algerian author arbitrarily detained in Algeria, has long criticized political Islam and state-sponsored antisemitism in the country. For years, the Algerian regime harassed him for his activism, including a courageous visit to Israel. Since his November 2024 arrest, which has drawn widespread international condemnation, Sansal’s situation has worsened. He has been held in inhumane conditions and fallen gravely ill.

François Zimeray, an international human rights lawyer and former French ambassador for human rights, is Sansal’s legal counsel. But Algeria has repeatedly denied Ambassador Zimeray entry into the country and targeted him in an antisemitic smear campaign.

With Research Fellow Zineb Riboua, Ambassador Zimeray will examine the legal, political, and strategic implications of Sansal’s detention and what it reveals about freedom of expression under authoritarian regimes.

Hudson Institute’s Center on Europe and Eurasia will host its third Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) Strategy Summit. Timed to coincide with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings, the conference will give senior CEE and European Union officials an opportunity to discuss the business and economic climate of their region with an American audience.

The summit also aims to reinforce ties between the United States and its Eastern European allies. While this year’s discussion will once again focus on geoeconomics, there will be an added emphasis on the importance of financing defense investment. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Hudson Institute’s Walter P. Stern Chair, will give the keynote address.

Hudson thanks the Czech PPF Group for making this summit possible.

Learn more: https://www.hudson.org/events/central...

0:00 | Opening Remarks

• Maria Luís Albuquerque, Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union, European Commission

19:18 | A View from Belgrade

• Ana Ivković, Vice-Governor, National Bank of Serbia

44:35 | Central Europe as an Economic Engine

• Dr. Lars-Hendrik Röller, Founder & Chair, Berlin Global Dialogue, former Chief Economic Advisor to Chancellor Merkel and G7/G20 Sherpa
• Peter Rough, Director and Senior Fellow, Center on Europe and Eurasia, Hudson Institute

1:30:22 | Panel Discussion: Bolstering European Resilience Through Investment

• H.E. Dr. Anca Dragu, Governor of the National Bank of Moldova
• H.E. Dr. Bogdan Ivan, Minister of Economy, Digitalization, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Romania
• Amb. Tomáš Pojar, National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, former Czech Ambassador to Israel
• H.E. Barna Tánczos, Minister of Finance, Romania

Moderator

• Matthew Boyse, Senior Fellow, Center on Europe and Eurasia, Hudson Institute

2:36:59 | Lunch Discussion: The Transatlantic Partnership in a New Era

• Amb. Nikki R. Haley, Walter P. Stern Chair, Hudson Institute
• Jan Růžička, Chief External Affairs Officer, PPF Group
• Peter Rough, Director and Senior Fellow, Center on Europe and Eurasia, Hudson Institute

3:15:21 | Ukraine as a Source of Economic and Security Dynamism

• H.E. Dr. Yuriy Heletiy, Deputy Governor, National Bank of Ukraine
• H.E. Dr. Olga Zykova, Deputy Finance Minister, Ukraine
• Luke Coffey, Senior Fellow, Center on Europe and Eurasia, Hudson Institute

Join Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg for a conversation with Hudson Senior Fellow Rebeccah Heinrichs. Minister Stoltenberg will provide remarks about the nexus between security and economic strength from a Norwegian perspective. Then he and Dr. Heinrichs will discuss the security environment for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the importance of economic security and alliance cohesion.

As the security situation in Afghanistan deteriorates, the Trump administration should reassess America’s approach to the country and US strategic posture in the region. At Hudson, General Jack Keane (Ret.) will deliver a keynote address. Then a panel of experts will discuss the future of Afghanistan and US interests in South and Central Asia.