On Wednesday, former US Navy SEAL Adm. William McRaven noted the “gap isnarrowing” between the US and China technologically, referring to it as a“holy s**t” moment. He advises that if the US doesn’t double down onscience and technology education and act decisively to forestall Beijing’srise, it will soon leave Washington in the dust.
McRaven, who as Joint Special Operations Command chief in 2011 oversawlink thePakistan raid that killed al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden, presented anew report link to the Council onForeign Relations think tank Wednesday. Titled “Innovation and NationalSecurity: Keeping Our Edge,” the report raises the alarm about Chinaclosing the technological gap with the US and points to key ways that Chinais excelling and how the US is failing to keep pace.
“We need to make sure that the American public knows that now is the timeto do something,” he said in remarks at the think tank. The problem, hesays, is that there is no “Sputnik” momentlink to spark urgency in a nationwide effort to maintain the US’ tech lead[image: Navy Vice Admiral William McRaven during a ceremony in White House,2011.]
“China, now the world’s second-largest economy, is both a US economicpartner and a strategic competitor, and it constitutes a different type ofchallenger,” the report’s executive summary notes. “Tightly interconnectedwith the United States, China is launching government-led investmentslink,increasing its numbers of science and engineering graduates, and mobilizinglarge pools of datalinkandglobal technology companieslinkinpursuit of ambitious economic and strategic goals.”
Read Top Stories
“The United States has had a time-tested playbook for technologicalcompetition,” the report says, noting the country’s pattern of deepinvestments in research and development (R&D), science, technology,engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and attracting and retainingexperts from around the world.
However, the US “faces a critical inflection point” in all these fields,the report notes. “US leadership in science and technology is at riskbecause of a decades-long stagnation in federal support and funding forresearch and development. Private-sector investment has risen, but it isnot a substitute for federally fundedlinkR&Ddirected at national economic, strategic, and social concerns.”
