Measure Twice, Cut Once: Assessing Some China–US Technology Connections

Description

Hal Brands, a distinguished professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), will moderate a discussion with Richard Danzig, former secretary of the navy; Christine Fox, assistant director of policy and analysis at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and former acting deputy secretary of defense; and Eliot A. Cohen, dean of Johns Hopkins SAIS, on the feasibility and potential consequences of decoupling technology linkages between the U.S. and China.

As global competition between the U.S. and China has intensified, actions to disengage their commingled technology establishments from one another have also intensified. More recently, there have been concerted efforts by governments of both nations to reverse or disengage from these connections altogether. Policymakers' priorities include perceived risks to national security, concerns regarding economic disadvantages resulting from proliferation, and uses of technologies that intentionally or indifferently may harm civil liberties or the environment.

The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory has recently commissioned "Measure Twice, Cut Once: Assessing China–US Technology Connections," a series of papers from experts across the nation in specific technology areas, to explore the advisability and potential outcomes of these decouplings. The publications were edited by Richard Danzig, who contributes an overview essay with co-author Lorand Laskai of Johns Hopkins SAIS. The report examines domains including artificial intelligence, telecommunications, biotech, semiconductors, space, higher education, and STEM.