On this episode of Around The Empire, Dan and Joanne interview China expert Peter Lee about the future of U.S.-China relations and the situation in North Korea.

Lee discusses how solving the Korean crisis is actually antithetical to the goals of the U.S. empire. If there ever was a unification of North and South Korea, the U.S. would have difficulty justifying its presence in the region and South Korea would gravitate away from America towards China.

China’s own ambitions are also discussed, including the country’s scramble to secure resources in the developing world, especially in Africa where China is on a collision course with an ever-expanding U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).

Follow Peter on Twitter @chinahand