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Chris, Zack, and Melanie sit down to talk about a new article by Eric Schmidt on whether the United States can win an innovation race with China. Where is the United States ahead and where is it behind in the tech competition? How should the U.S. government work with private enterprise to maximize defense innovation and procurement? Can the United States overcome obstacles, many self-imposed, to accelerate and sharpen innovative enterprises?

Chris congratulates Dr. Elizabeth Samet for a book well done, Zack is unhappy about possible leaks of American intelligence assessments about the Ukraine war, and Melanie congratulates Congress for doing its job.

Episode Reading: 

• Eric Schmidt, “Why Technology Will Define the Future of Geopolitics,” Foreign Affairs, February 28, 2023.
• Jason Fitzpatrick and Jonathan Hurtarte, “New ‘Apollo Program’ Sought to Fend Off China in GPS Space Race,” Bloomberg Law, April 5, 2023.
• Clea Caulcutt, Jamil Anderlini, Suzanne Lynch, and Stuart Lau, “The Warm Embrace and the Cold Shoulder: China Mines Europe’s Fractures During Joint Visit,” Politico EU, April 6, 2023.
• Robin Fontes and Dr. Jorrit Kamminga, “Ukraine: A Living Lab for AI Warfare,” National Defense Magazine, March 24, 2023.
• Andrew Solender, “Dems see bipartisan promise in McCarthy’s Taiwan meeting,” Axios, April 6, 2023.
• Michael C. Horowitz, The Diffusion of Military Power (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2010).
• Aaron L. Friedberg, In the Shadow of the Garrison State (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000).
• Elizabeth Samet, Looking for the Good War: American Amnesia and the Violent Pursuit of Happiness (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021).

Image: The White House