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.
Biography
Ben Rohrbaugh is a principal at BorderWorks Advisors, LLC. He was most recently a Senior Advisor in the Department of Homeland Security. From 2014 to 2016, he served as the Director for Enforcement and Border Security at the National Security Council in the White House, where he was responsible for border management with Mexico and Canada and developed a new council to prioritize border infrastructure investments across the U.S. Government. Previously he worked as a Senior Advisor to the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, where he handled engagement on customs, migration, and security cooperation with the Government of Mexico and negotiated the first entirely privately financed border crossing. Prior to this, Rohrbaugh was Counselor to the Special Representative for Border Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, where he focused on border management, cross border infrastructure, and communications interoperability. He also served as the Director for National Security within the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, where he was responsible for political appointments within the Departments of Homeland Security, State, and Defense, and international development organizations.
He previously worked on a number of political campaigns including as the Field Desk for the Western United States on the Obama 2008 campaign, and spent several years in China developing language learning materials. He received a B.A from the University of California at Davis in 2003 in History and Political Science.
Last Updated: Apr 24, 2020, 8:52am