September 07, 2021
Technology competition: We need more than just strategy
America is embroiled in a challenge unseen in decades: a contest with a formidable and resourceful opponent whose geostrategic ambitions are at odds with the interests and values of the world’s democracies. The rise of China presents a profound challenge to the economic competitiveness and national security of the United States and its allies and partners. At the center of this contest is technology, a driver for economic, political, and military power. China’s leaders have made scientific and technological leadership the focus area in its drive to become the world’s economic dynamo, the power center of a new geopolitical order, and a global military leader.
To maximize the potential for success, the United States must craft a new strategic approach to technology policy, one that promotes its strengths, protects its advantages, and capitalizes on its alliances and partnerships.
How U.S. leaders act in response will determine whether America maintains its status as the world’s preeminent scientific and technological power, with all the advantages that confers, or descends on a slow glide path to mediocrity. Both outcomes are plausible. Status quo policies make the latter most likely.
To maximize the potential for success, the United States must craft a new strategic approach to technology policy, one that promotes its strengths, protects its advantages, and capitalizes on its alliances and partnerships. The object should be to ensure that the United States achieve this without having to compromise its values or sovereignty.
Read the full article from The Hill.
More from CNAS
-
Commentary
Technology & National Security
CNAS Insights | The Export Control Loophole Fueling China's Chip ProductionThis week, Reuters reported that China has apparently built a prototype of an extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) system, a highly intricate machine used to produce cutting-...
By Michelle Nie, Autumn Dorsey & Janet Egan
-
Video
Technology & National Security
Paul Scharre on How AI Could Transform the Nature of WarPaul Scharre, CNAS Executive Vice President, joins host Luisa Rodriguez to explain why we are hurtling toward a “battlefield singularity” — a tipping point where AI increasing...
By Paul Scharre
-
Commentary
Energy, Economics & Security / Technology & National Security
Recommendations for Promoting American AI AbroadStrategic Context and Program Objectives The American AI Exports Program is an ambitious and essential proposal to expand the reach of American AI technologies in foreign mar...
By Janet Egan, Geoffrey Gertz, Daniel Remler & Ruby Scanlon
-
Podcast
Technology & National Security
Defense One Radio, Ep. 200: Paul Scharre Explains the Global AI Arms RacePaul Scharre, executive vice president at the Center for a New American Security, joined Defense One to discuss science and technology. The former Army Ranger explored how AI ...
By Paul Scharre
