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.
Speaker: Torrey Taussig, Research Fellow, International Security Program
In a renewed era of great power competition, leading authoritarian regimes have progressed from consolidating power within their borders to projecting power beyond them. Nowhere is this trend more evident, or important, than in Russia and China. This seminar will first discuss how Russian and Chinese foreign policy strategies have evolved over the course of the twenty-first century, as both nations have become revisionist powers in their respective regions. The seminar will also discuss how scholars and policymakers can gain greater insight into Russian and Chinese foreign policy decision making by assessing dynamics within their authoritarian political orders — including leaders, the institutions in which they operate, and their requirements for domestic legitimacy. As Presidents Putin and Xi continue to develop personalist systems at home, these internal factors will have increasing importance for U.S. foreign policy in the years ahead.
Please join us! Coffee and tea 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.