The Hoover Institution National Security Task Force hosted a round table discussion with Admiral James G. Stavridis (USN, Ret.), Supreme Allied Commander at NATO 2009-13.
Task Force participants surveyed the global geopolitical landscape during a period when the United States, its partners, and its competitors are each struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other domestic social challenges. This included the disparate security implications of current relations with Europe, Russia, India, and China, and the existence of mutual misunderstanding or miscalculation. Discussants suggested how—given the potential for conflict through blunder during an unsettled global period—“offramps” could be developed in advance across sectors of the economy, or bracketing potential areas of military flareup, as alternatives to escalation. Meanwhile, the United States must ensure that it remains strong; its pluralistic society is poised to benefit from the long-term technological and demographic changes that are carrying the globe across a new “hinge of history,” but bridging that demands new efforts on domestic capabilities, foremost education, broad economic progress, and the fuller participation of American women in U.S. workforces.
