Matthew Turpin

Matthew Turpin is an American security analyst and former U.S. Army Officer specializing in US-China relations, economic statecraft, and technological innovation. He is currently a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution and a senior advisor at Palantir Technologies. Between 2018 and 2019, Turpin served as director for China at the White House National Security Council and senior advisor for China to the Secretary of Commerce during the Trump administration.

Life and career Turpin holds a BS in history from the United States Military Academy and a MA in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Views on US-China relations Turpin believes the US and China are already in a new cold war, an argument he first made in a November 2021 op-ed for The Wire China. In a September 2023 written debate on the same topic hosted by the Brookings Institution, he stressed the importance for Americans to understand the Chinese government perceived US engagement strategy "as an existential threat to the party" and explained: For the last few years, a new geopolitical condition has emerged. The United States and the People's Republic of China coexist in a multipolar world in which each side is deeply suspicious of and hostile to the worldview of the other. Simultaneously, both countries recognize that they cannot overpower their rival, which compels both to avoid direct military conflict, while pushing their rivalry into other domains. This geopolitical condition is called a cold war.Turpin defined "cold war" as a condition rather than strategy, noting it is: Chapter 9: Mitigating the Impact of China's Nonmarket Behavior in Semiconductors, in Silicon Triangle: The United States, Taiwan, China, and Global Semiconductor Security (Hoover Institution & Asia Society), July 2023 (co-authored with Robert Daly)

Articles

Yes, This is a Cold War, The Wire China, November 14, 2021