For the past ten years, the United States and China have been locked in a competition for who has the greatest global influence. One major point of contention is the status of Taiwanese sovereignty, which has become even more relevant recently with the possibility that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may prompt China to take similar action regarding Taiwan. How will the United States engage a China which is increasingly seeking to expand its sphere of influence? 

The Great Decisions program provides background information and policy options for the eight most critical issues facing America each year and serves as the focal text for discussion groups across the country. The Great Decisions program was created by the Foreign Policy Association. The mission of the Foreign Policy Association today, as it has been for over 100 years, is to serve as a catalyst for developing awareness, understanding, and informed opinion on U.S. foreign policy and global issues. Through its balanced, nonpartisan programs and publications, the FPA encourages citizens to participate in the foreign policy process.

This program is brought to the community through a partnership with the Edina Senior Center, the Edina Library and Edina Community Ed.

Kannan Solayappan grew up in Chennai in Southern India and earned his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering at a university in Bangalore. He then worked for 15 months in an Indian nylon factory as a graduate engineer. In the late 1980s, he saw the promise of computers and went to Australia to study computer science, graduating with a master’s in 1992. He then got married and came to work in the U.S. Starting as a software developer in the San Francisco Bay area, he moved to Minnesota in 1998 and has been a software consultant here for over 20 years now. In these years he has worked in most of the major companies in Minnesota, including IBM, Mayo Clinic, American Express, Cargill, 3M, United Health Care, Medtronic, U.S. Bank and now Wells Fargo. He lives in Eagan with his wife, Vallikannu, who works as a banker in Wells Fargo.

The Friends of the Edina Library and Global Minnesota have graciously co-sponsored this program.