To compete and thrive in the 21st century, democracies, and the United States in particular, must develop new national security and economic strategies that address the geopolitics of information. In the 20th century, market capitalist democracies geared infrastructure, energy, trade, and even social policy to protect and advance that era’s key source of power—manufacturing. In this century, democracies must better account for information geopolitics across all dimensions of domestic policy and national strategy.
Speakers: Luis Simón, Professor in International Relations, Institute for European Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Linde Desmaele, Ph.D. Candidate and Researcher, Institute for European Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Why does the United States prioritize Europe or East Asia? So far, students of U.S. grand strategy have failed to give this question the attention it deserves, let alone provide a convincing answer. But scholars cannot stay out of this debate any longer. The 2017 U.S. National Security Strategy speaks of the erosion of America's competitive edge and warns about how Russian revisionism and China's rise threaten the balance of power in Europe and East Asia. Both regions will surely remain important for the United States. But dwindling U.S. resources and the return of great power competition across more than one front compel Washington to think more strategically about how to prioritize.
Drawing on insights from balance of power theory, the speakers provide a framework that explains why the United States prioritizes Europe or East Asia. Such a decision, they contend, hinges primarily on the degree to which a particular competitor is able to upset the regional balance across three key domains simultaneously: military, economic, and political-diplomatic. The speakers assess their framework against those competing explanations that may point to threat or bureaucratic politics as the main drivers of U.S. regional prioritization. To probe their hypothesis, they examine how the Europe vs. Asia dilemma played out during the Cold War and post–Cold War periods.
Please join us! Coffee, tea, and light refreshments provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.
For more information, email the International Security Program Assistant at susan_lynch@harvard.edu.