The U.S. faces grave national-security threats around the globe. Conflicts in the Middle East and Europe, combined with a shifting balance of power in the Indo-Pacific, embolden America’s adversaries and threaten the free world. If the U.S. doesn’t act swiftly to ensure our technological edge, we’ll risk further deterrence failures and the erosion of international freedom.
China and Russia are expanding their global influence through conventional military power and advances in manufacturing and critical technology. The U.S. is unlikely to adopt industrial policy or match our enemies in sheer production volume. That’s OK; our path forward instead lies in America’s capacity to innovate.
Read the full original op-ed, cowritten with Leon E. Panetta, in the Wall Street Journal.