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We simply wrapped up the second yr of our Know-how, Innovation, and Nice Energy Competitors class – now a part of our Stanford Gordian Knot Heart for Nationwide Safety Innovation.
Joe Felter, Raj Shah and I designed the category to 1) give our college students an appreciation of the challenges and alternatives for the US in its enduring strategic competitors with the Individuals’s Republic of China, Russia and different rivals, and a pair of) provide insights on how industrial know-how (AI, machine studying, autonomy, cyber, quantum, semiconductors, entry to area, biotech, hypersonics, and others) are radically altering how we are going to compete throughout all the weather of nationwide energy e.g. diplomatic, informational, army, financial, monetary, intelligence and legislation enforcement (our affect and footprint on the world stage).
Why This Class?
The return of strategic competitors between nice powers grew to become a centerpiece of the 2017 Nationwide Safety Technique and 2018 Nationwide Protection Technique. The 2021 Interim Nationwide Safety Steering and the administration’s not too long ago launched 2022 Nationwide Safety Technique clarify that China has quickly turn out to be extra assertive and is the one competitor probably able to combining its financial, diplomatic, army, and technological energy to mount a sustained problem to a secure and open worldwide system. And as we’ve seen within the Ukraine, Russia stays decided to wage a brutal struggle to play a disruptive function on the world stage.
Prevailing on this competitors would require greater than merely buying the fruits of this technological revolution; it can require a paradigm shift within the pondering of how this know-how may be quickly built-in into new capabilities and platforms to drive new operational and organizational ideas and methods that change and optimize the best way we compete.
Class Group
The readings, lectures, and visitor audio system explored how rising industrial applied sciences pose challenges and create alternatives for the US in strategic competitors with nice energy rivals with an emphasis on the Individuals’s Republic of China. We targeted on the challenges created when U.S. authorities companies, our federal analysis labs, and authorities contractors now not have unique entry to those superior applied sciences.
This course included all that you’d count on from a Stanford graduate-level class within the Masters in Worldwide Coverage – complete readings, visitor lectures from present and former senior officers/specialists, and written papers. What makes the category distinctive nonetheless, is that that is an experiential coverage class. College students shaped small groups and launched into a quarter-long mission that obtained them out of the classroom to 1) determine a precedence nationwide safety problem, after which to 2) validate the issue and suggest an in depth resolution examined towards precise stakeholders within the know-how and nationwide safety ecosystem.
The category was break up into three elements. Half 1, weeks 1 by means of 4 lined worldwide relations theories, methods and insurance policies round Nice Energy Competitors particularly targeted on the Individuals’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Communist Peoples Social gathering (CCP). Half 2, weeks 5 by means of 8, dove into the industrial applied sciences: semiconductors, area, cyber, AI and Machine Studying, Excessive Efficiency Computing, and Biotech. In between elements 1 and a pair of of the category, the scholars had a midterm particular person mission. It required them to jot down a 2,000-word coverage memo describing how a U.S. competitor is utilizing a particular know-how to counter U.S. pursuits and a proposal for the way the U.S. ought to reply. (These coverage memos have been reviewed by Tarun Chhabra, the Senior Director for Know-how and Nationwide Safety on the Nationwide Safety Council.)
Every week the scholars needed to learn 5-10 articles (see class readings right here.) And every week we had visitor audio system on nice energy competitors, and know-how and its influence on nationwide energy and lectures/class dialogue.
Visitor Audio system
Along with the educating workforce, the course drew on the expertise and experience of visitor lecturers from business and from throughout U.S. Authorities companies to offer context and perspective on industrial applied sciences and nationwide safety.
Our class opened with three visitor audio system; former U.S. Secretary of Protection James Mattis and the CIA’s CTO and COO Nand Mulchandani and Andy Makridis. The final class closed with a chat by Google ex-Chairman Eric Schmidt.
Within the weeks in-between we had educating workforce lectures adopted by audio system that led discussions on the essential industrial applied sciences. For semiconductors, the White Home Coordinator for the CHIPS Act – Ronnie Chatterji, and the CTO of Utilized Supplies – Om Nalamasu. For industrial tech integration and area, former Protection Innovation Unit (DIU) Director Mike Brown and B. Common Bucky Butow – Director of the House Portfolio. For Synthetic Intelligence, Lt. Gen. (Ret) Jack Shanahan, former director of the Joint Synthetic Intelligence Heart. And for artificial biology Stanford Professor Drew Endy – President, BioBricks Basis.
Crew-based Experiential Mission
The third a part of the category was distinctive – a quarter-long, team-based mission. College students shaped groups and developed hypotheses of how industrial applied sciences can be utilized in new and artistic methods to assist the U.S. wield its devices of nationwide energy. And according to all our Gordian Knot Heart lessons, they obtained out of the classroom and interviewed 20+ beneficiaries, coverage makers, and different key stakeholders testing their hypotheses and proposed options. On the finish of the quarter, every of the groups gave a last “Classes Discovered” presentation and adopted up with a 3,000 to five,000-word team-written paper.
By the top of the category all of the groups realized that the issue they’d chosen had morphed into one thing greater, deeper, and rather more fascinating.
Crew 1: Local weather Change
Unique Downside Assertion: What combos of applied sciences and worldwide monetary relationships ought to the US prioritize to mitigate local weather change?
Remaining Downside Assertion: How ought to the US handle China’s dominance in photo voltaic panels?
In the event you can’t see the presentation click on right here.
We knew that these college students might write an incredible analysis paper. As we identified to them, whilst you may be the neatest particular person within the constructing, it’s unlikely that 1) all of the details are within the constructing, 2) you’re smarter than the collective intelligence sitting exterior the constructing.
Jonah Cader: “Know-how, Innovation and Nice Energy Competitors (TIGPC) is that uncommon mixture of the theoretical, tactical, and sensible. Over 10 weeks, Clean, Felter, and Shah define the complexities of contemporary geopolitical tensions and produce college students up the training curves of essential areas of technological competitors, from semiconductors to synthetic intelligence. Every week of the seminar is a crash course in a brand new area, delivered to life by wealthy dialogue and an unimaginable slate of practitioners who reside and breathe the content material of TIGPC every day. Past the classroom, the course plunges college students into getting “out of the constructing” to iterate rapidly whereas translating learnings to the actual world. Alongside the best way the course acts as a robust name to public service.”
Crew 2: Networks
Unique Downside Assertion: How may we implement a ubiquitous safe world entry to the web with a purpose to assist circumvent censorship in authoritarian regimes?
Remaining Downside Assertion: How can we create an open, free Web and preserve efficient traces of communication in Taiwan in preparation for a possible invasion?
In the event you can’t see the presentation click on right here
By week 2 of the category college students shaped groups round a particular know-how problem going through a US authorities company and labored all through the course to develop their very own proposals to assist the U.S. compete extra successfully by means of new operational ideas, organizations, and/or methods.
Jason Kim: “This course doesn’t simply focus on U.S. nationwide safety points. It teaches college students how one can apply an influential and confirmed methodology to quickly develop options to our most difficult issues.”
Crew 3: Acquisition
Unique Downside Assertion: How can the U.S. Division of Protection match or beat the velocity of nice energy opponents in buying and integrating essential applied sciences?
Remaining Downside Assertion: How can the U.S. Division of Protection deploy various funding mechanisms in parallel to conventional procurement autos to allow and incentivize the supply of essential next-generation know-how in underneath 5 years?
In the event you can’t see the presentation click on right here
We wished to present our college students hands-on expertise on how one can deeply perceive an issue on the intersection of our nation’s diplomacy, data, its army capabilities, financial energy, finance, intelligence, and legislation enforcement and dual-use know-how. First by having them develop hypotheses about the issue; subsequent by getting out of the classroom and speaking to related stakeholders throughout authorities, business, and academia to validate their assumptions; and eventually by taking what they discovered to suggest and prototype options to those issues.
Matt Kaplan: “The TIGPC class was a spotlight of my educational expertise at Stanford. Over the ten week quarter, I discovered an amazing quantity in regards to the significance of know-how in world politics from the three professors and from the specialists in authorities, enterprise, and academia who got here to talk. The category epitomizes a number of the greatest elements of my time right here: the chance to be taught from unimaginable, caring school and to work with inspiring classmates. Joe, Steve, Raj instilled in my classmates and me a contemporary sense of pleasure to work in public service.”
Crew 4: Wargames
Unique Downside Assertion: The U.S. wants a method, given a consultant simulation, to quickly discover a technique for attainable novel makes use of of present platforms and weapons.
Remaining Downside Assertion: Strategic wargames stand to profit from a stronger integration of AI+ML however are struggling to search out adoption and utilization. How can this be addressed?
In the event you can’t see the presentation click on right here
We wish our college students to construct the reflexes and expertise to deeply perceive an issue by gathering first-hand data and validating that the issue they’re fixing is the actual downside, not a symptom of one thing else. Then, college students started quickly constructing minimal viable options (coverage, software program, {hardware} …) as a approach to take a look at and validate their understanding of each the issue and what it could take to unravel it.
Etienne Reche-Ley: “Know-how, Innovation and Nice Energy Competitors gave me a chance to dive into an actual world nationwide safety menace to the US and perceive the implications of it throughout the nice energy competitors. In contrast to another class I’ve taken at Stanford, this class allowed me to take motion on our downside about networks, censorship and the shortage of free circulation of knowledge in authoritarian regimes, and gave me the possibility to satisfy and be taught from a mess of specialists on the subject. I completed this class with a deep understanding of our downside, a proposed actionable resolution and a newfound curiosity within the intersection of know-how and innovation because it applies to nationwide protection. I’m very grateful to have been a part of this course, and it has impressed me to go a step additional and pursue a profession associated to nationwide safety.”
Crew 6: Disinformation
Unique Downside Assertion: Disinformation is a nationwide safety menace.
Remaining Downside Assertion: The U.S.’s capacity to shut the disinformation response kill chain is hampered by a scarcity of coordination between U.S. authorities companies, no clear possession of the disinformation downside, and a scarcity of clear tips on public-private partnerships.
In the event you can’t see the presentation click on right here
One different purpose of the category was to proceed to validate and refine our pedagogy of mixing a standard lecture class with an experiential mission. We did this by tasking the scholars to 1) use what they discovered from the lectures and a pair of) then take a look at their assumptions exterior the classroom, the exterior enter they obtained could be a power multiplier. It might make the lecture materials actual, tangible and actionable. And we and they might find yourself with one thing fairly invaluable.
Shreyas Lakhtakia: “TIGPC is an interdisciplinary class like no different. It’s a fabulous introduction to a number of the most important tech and geopolitical challenges and questions of the twenty first century. The category, just like the matters it covers, is unimaginable and impressive – it’s a good way to stage up your understanding of not simply worldwide coverage, political principle and know-how coverage but in addition deep tech and the function of startups in projecting nationwide energy. In the event you’re inquisitive about the way forward for the world and the function of the US in it, you gained’t discover a extra distinctive course, a extra devoted educating workforce or higher audio system to listen to from than this!”
Crew 7: Quantum Know-how
Unique Downside Assertion: China’s deliberate authorities funding in quantum dwarfs that of the U.S. by an element of 10.
Remaining Downside Assertion: The US quantum ecosystem doesn’t generate sufficient consciousness of alternatives to pursue careers in quantum that might catalyze business development.
In the event you can’t see the presentation click on right here
We knew we have been asking so much from our college students. We have been integrating a lecture class with a heavy studying record with the most effective practices of speculation testing from Lean Launchpad/Hacking for Protection/I-Corps. However I’ve but to wager improper in pushing college students previous what they suppose is affordable. Most rise method above the event.
Crew 9: Lithium-Ion Batteries
Unique Downside Assertion: Provide and manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries is centered in China. How can the U.S. turn out to be aggressive?
Remaining Downside Assertion: China controls the processing of essential supplies used for lithium-ion batteries. To regain management the DOE must incentivize brief and long-term methods to extend processing of essential supplies and reduce dependence on lithium-ion batteries.
In the event you can’t see the presentation click on right here
All of our college students put in extraordinary quantity of labor. Our college students got here from a various set of background and pursuits – from undergraduate sophomores to fifth yr PhD’s – in a mixture together with worldwide coverage, economics, laptop science, enterprise, legislation and engineering. Some will go on to senior roles in State, Protection, coverage or different companies. Others will be part of or discovered the businesses constructing new disruptive applied sciences. They’ll be those to find out what the world-order will seem like for the remainder of the century and past. Will or not it’s a rules-based order the place states cooperate to pursue a shared imaginative and prescient for a free and open area and the place the sovereignty of all international locations massive and small is protected underneath worldwide legislation? Or will or not it’s an autocratic and dystopian future coerced and imposed by a neo-totalitarian regime?
This class modified the trajectory of a lot of our college students. A quantity expressed newfound curiosity in exploring profession choices within the area of nationwide safety. A number of can be making the most of alternatives supplied by the Gordian Knot Heart for Nationwide Safety Innovation to additional pursue their contribution to nationwide safety.
This course and our work at Stanford’s Gordian Knot Heart wouldn’t be attainable with out the unrelenting help and steerage from Ambassador Mike McFaul and Professor Riitta Katila, GKC founding school and Principal Investigators, and the tenacity of David Hoyt, Gordian Knot Heart Assistant Director.
Classes Discovered
- We mixed lecture and experiential studying so our college students can act on issues not simply admire them
- The exterior enter the scholars obtained was a power multiplier
- It made the lecture materials actual, tangible and actionable
- Pushing college students previous what they suppose is affordable leads to extraordinary output. Most rise method above the event
- The category creates alternatives for our greatest and brightest to interact and handle challenges on the nexus of know-how, innovation and nationwide safety
- The ultimate shows and papers from the category are proof that may occur
Filed underneath: Know-how Innovation and Nice Energy Competitors |
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