The Future of American Strategy Starts Now [0:00-3:07]

We're living through a period of historic change. Fundamental questions about the nature of the international system, which were long thought to be resolved, are open for debate. Long standing ways of managing trade, conducting diplomacy, leading alliances and negotiating with adversaries are being revisited. There's a real risk the US, maybe in the next decade, could fall behind China technologically, be dependent on it economically, and even be defeated by militarily. The distribution of power in the Middle East is changing, the old regional order that help make it relatively easier for the United States to pursue its interests in the region has fractured. The United States will need to leave its anachronistic and dismissive ideas about Africa behind, or find itself on the outside looking in as others pursue African partners in their bid to reshape the world order. America still needs Europe, but only a stronger, more autonomous Europe will be able to keep the transatlantic alliance alive. The very nature of power itself is evolving too. Control over data, semiconductors, energy, and artificial intelligence now matters as much as aircraft carriers and GDP. Ten years from now, the tools of global influence could well look dramatically different than they do today. Oregon needs a proactive AI policy that addresses the real risks and builds trust in AI. The question is whether we need a stronger defense industrial base? We do. The question is speed. Shared challenges like climate change, pandemics, the use and diffusion of technology remain acute, but the institutional architecture that once facilitated international cooperation on issues from trade to security and global health is free. Think about how to transition the world from one that has been dominated materially and ideologically by the West to one that will be pluralistic and ideologically diverse. Climate change is already reshaping the world we operate in every year that passes without a strategy is a year we hand the advantage to someone else. To understand America's place in this changing geopolitical landscape, we need a rigorous, creative and ambitious rethink of how the U.S. engages with the rest of the world. New strategic concepts that grapple with the world as it is today and how it will be in the future, not just how it was in the past, one that takes seriously America's enduring strengths and its real constraints. That's why the Council on Foreign Relations is launching the future of American Strategy Initiative. We'll convene scholars, practitioners and unconventional thinkers to generate creative and ambitious ideas that address the challenges and seize the opportunities of the world ahead. We'll travel across the country to better understand what the American people want from the United States Global Rule and we'll ensure we include views from across the political spectrum. Reimagining American Strategy for a rapidly transforming world is not a quick or simple undertaking that will require intellectual courage, honest debate and contributions from the wide range of voices. We hope you'll join us.