“He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.”~Sun Tzu

In the new round of global technological race, America is in urgent need of transformative thinking on a winning strategy. In October 2024, Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) published a report that outlines a new framework for American economic security. The report lays out several pillars of America’s winning strategy: protecting sensitive technologies, investing in American innovation agenda, and building a global technological alliance.

In the beginning, the report introduces a fundamental framework of “economic security trilemma”, which features distinct goals in competitiveness, resilience, and national security. To pursue competitiveness and national security requires the strategy of “protect” that involves export controls, investment screening, trade sanctions, and strategic tariffs. To pursue competitiveness and resilience requires the strategy of “promote’ that involves investments in chip-making as well as capability-building across a diverse set of technologies. To pursue resilience and national security requires the strategy of “partner” that involves economic alliances to uplift supply chain resilience, accelerate energy transition, and boost technological innovation. The implication is that there is always a tradeoff for policymakers to pursue a comprehensive strategy to strengthen economic security.

Regarding the “strategy of protect”, how to protect sensitive technologies from China? The report argues that the key element is export control enforcement that ensures complete and tractable compliance. The ultimate goal is not merely to block China from gaining strategic products, but also to thwart China’s ambitious plan in indigenizing foreign technology. Instead of “reactive blacklisting”, the U.S. should adopt a proactive “preapprovals regime” that identifies major players while clarifies rules in certification processes, digital waybills, and preapproved logistic providers. Moreover, America must put its allies and partners on the same page in implementing multilateral export control.

Regarding the “strategy of promote”, how to invest in American innovation agenda? The report emphasizes the importance of innovation clusters, which facilitate the networking among entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, universities, research institutes, and public agencies. This kind of public-private partnerships not only promote the growth of regional innovation ecosystems, but also bring together multiple actors that go beyond proximity to launch new products and services. Another key part of the American innovation agenda is the IP enforcement regime, which can be strengthened through resource provision, procedure streamlining, and legislative proposals. Besides the “usual path of strategy development”, the U.S. should initiate structural reforms and expand execution options in order to make sure every public investment decision is based on full consideration of national interests.

Regarding the “strategy of partner”, how to build a global technological alliance? The report raises several difficulties to overcome. The first difficulty is to identify a “shared problem” that can mobilize collective efforts among allies and partners, who oftentimes do not share America’s urgency in beating China in critical technological battlegrounds to defend the throne in global technological leadership. The second difficulty lies in Europe’s prioritization of its own values and sovereignty. The U.S. needs to take pains to align with Europe’s goals of preserving core values and strengthening technological sovereignty.  The third difficulty arises from reconciling multiple and sometimes contradictory goals. America and its allies need to coordinate policies, share funding, and secure intellectual property rights to trigger the joint development of emerging technologies.

The report concludes with a loud and clear call for America’s strong leadership coupled with active partnership in the era of economic security. It is of utmost imperativeness for the U.S. to map out an economic security strategy that realizes domestic goals, promotes international cooperation, and addresses global complexities. It may not be possible to simultaneously pursue competitiveness, resilience, and national security with one single magic bullet. But the intensifying technological competition with China demands America to have full recognition of all the limits, and demonstrate undeterred determination to overcome all these limits to score the ultimate triumph.

The article is based on CSIS’s “Staying Ahead in the Global Technology Race: A Roadmap for Economic Security”, edited by Navin Girishankar. Read the full report