Derisky Business

The Biden administration released its final rule on regulating outbound U.S. investments going into sensitive tech sectors in China. Emily and Geoff dig into the rule, along with what to expect next from Congress and international partners.

Check out prior CNAS work on outbound investment:

Joint CNAS-Atlantic Council report, "Sand in the Silicon: Designing an Outbound Investment Controls Mechanism"

Public comments on the draft rule:

Congressional testimony:

https://www.cnas.org/publications/congressional-testimony/principles-and-policy-options-for-designing-better-investment-barriers

Emily and Geoff tackle some of the most common questions on starting and building a career in the field of economic security, with the help of Michèle Flournoy, former Under Secretary of Defense as well as the co-founder and current Chair of the Board of the Center for a New American Security, and John Hughes, a partner at the strategic advisory firm DGA Group and a CNAS Adjunct Senior Fellow.

Check out CNAS’ current internship and job opportunities at https://www.cnas.org/careers.

and read Michèle's recommendation:

A Passion for Leadership: Lessons on Change and Reform from Fifty Years of Public Service by Bob Gates.

Join Emily Kilcrease and researcher Eleanor Hume to discuss the latest edition of CNAS's Sanctions by the Numbers series, examining how the U.S.'s sanctions policy on China has shifted under the Biden administration. 

Find the full report and its findings here: Sanctions by the Numbers: Comparing the Trump and Biden Administrations’ Sanctions and Export Controls on China

That escalated quickly! Emily and Geoff discuss why the U.S. aim to deny China access to the computing power necessary for frontier AI capabilities has led to an ever expanding set of new export controls. They are joined by Reed Albergotti of Semafor to talk about what this means for the Middle East's tech ambitions and by Pablo Chavez to share his analysis on the drive for sovereign AI around the world.

Check out Emily's remarks on America's evolving export control strategy and Reed's reporting from the Middle East: "How the UAE Got the U.S. to Bless its AI Ambitions" and U.S. Closer to Green Lighting NVIDIA Chips for Saudi Arabia.

Also read Pablo's two articles, Toward Digital Solidarity and Vassals vs. Rivals: The Geopolitical Future of AI Competition.

Ambassador Jovita Neliupšienė, the European Union's Ambassador to the United States, joins Emily and Geoff for a wide-ranging conversation on Europe's growing role as a economic statecraft power, the importance of the transatlantic alliance in addressing the strategic challenges posed by Russia and China, and why all Americans should drink champagne

Ambassador Neliupšienė recommends listeners tune in to the Trade-Off podcast about the people, politics, and power inside Europe’s trade policy.

Further Reading:

EU Competitiveness: Looking Ahead (The Draghi Report)

Containing Crisis: Strategic Concepts for Coercive Economic Statecraft from CNAS

The Brussels Effect: How the European Union Rules the World by Anu Bradford

NRC Media reporter Marc Hijink joined co-host Emily Kilcrease at a CNAS event to discuss his book, Focus: The ASML Way. For decades, ASML - the most valuable technology company in Europe - operated in the shadows, despite the fact that roughly 90 percent of all chips worldwide are made with ASML’s machines. In recent years, the Dutch manufacturing company has found itself at the center of a geopolitical storm between China and the United States and Europe. In this conversation, we delve into the history of the company, how it came to dominate the industry, and how it is navigating increasingly fraught geopolitical waters.

Geoff and Emily talk about the tensions between social media platforms and governments around the world, including Telegram’s troubles in France and X’s spats with Brazil and Europe. Carrie Cordero, CNAS General Counsel and Robert M. Gates Senior Fellow, joins to talk TikTok and why it’s so complicated to ban the app in the United States.  

Carrie Cordero is the Robert M. Gates Senior Fellow and General Counsel at CNAS. Her research and writing interests focus on homeland security and intelligence community oversight, transparency, surveillance, cybersecurity, and related national and homeland security law and policy issues.

On this international episode of Derisky Business, recorded at the United States Studies Center in Sydney, Australia, Dr. Mike Green joins the podcast to discuss how Australia and other Pacific countries view economic security issues, what countries in the region think about the U.S. presidential election, and how he is preparing for armageddon.

Mike’s Recommended Reading/Listening: Planning Armageddon: British Economic Warfare and the First World War, The Empire Podcast

Richard Fontaine is the Chief Executive Officer of the Center for a New American Security. Prior to coming to CNAS, he was foreign policy advisor to Senator John McCain and worked at the State Department, the National Security Council, and on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  

Richard's recommended reading

Lost Decade: The U.S. Pivot to Asia and the Rise of Chinese Power by Richard Fontaine and Robert Blackwill

The Rise and Fall of the Economic Pivot to Asia by Richard Fontaine and Robert Blackwill

The Price of Nostalgia, Adam Posen

Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Reality by Frank Wilczek

Dan Rosen, leading expert on China's economy and head of the Rhodium Group's China practice, joins Emily and Geoff to talk about the recently concluded third plenum meetings in China, what China's economy wants to be when it grows up, and the impacts of China's economic downturn on U.S.-China relations.

Emily Kilcrease is senior fellow and program director in the Energy, Economics, & Security Program at the CNAS. Her research focuses on economic statecraft and economic security.

Geoff Gertz is senior fellow in the Energy, Economics, & Security Team at the Center for a New American Security. His research focuses on technology competition, digital policy and data governance, and geoeconomics.

Disorderly Conduct: How U.S.-China Competition Upended the International Economic Order & What the U.S. Can Do to Fix It

Dan's Recommended Reading: Forging a Positive Vision of Economic Statecraft by Daleep Singh.