Science and Technology

Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Situation Report.

Here’s what’s on tap for the day: The Trump administration releases a new national security tech strategy, continues to shift the Iran war goalposts, and earmarks millions of dollars for a Gaza peacekeeping force that doesn’t exist yet.

Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Situation Report.

Here’s what’s on tap for the day: The Trump administration releases a new national security tech strategy, continues to shift the Iran war goalposts, and earmarks millions of dollars for a Gaza peacekeeping force that doesn’t exist yet.

The Trouble With Technology

Over their last 19  months in power, U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration have continuously pushed the envelope of what their signature “America First” doctrine represents for global geopolitics—threatening Europe with U.S. troop reductions, pulling back from military exercises with South Korea, and threatening to bomb Middle Eastern partners such as Oman (two of which have happened just in the last week). Trump’s national security strategy, released in December, explicitly foreshadowed a retreat from the United States’ global role and a “pull your own weight” message to U.S. allies around the world.

When it comes to technology, however, the Trump administration has clearly been forced to retreat into realism.

The White House released its new national security science and technology strategy this week, an addendum to December’s national security strategy that focuses on maintaining U.S. technological leadership. While the strategy hits some familiar notes, advocating America First policies on technology investment and arms transfers, it also proposes a level of engagement with both allies and adversaries that could contradict some of the administration’s own policies and actions.

For one, it recognizes that there are some areas where adversaries such as China (though not explicitly mentioned) are ahead of U.S. capabilities and calls for a more measured approach rather than spending to replicate the same capabilities. “Successfully shaping the competition also requires avoiding forms of technology competition where capable adversaries can readily counter U.S. moves with less effort,” the strategy reads. “We must avoid situations where competing for advantage favors adversaries and works against the objectives of U.S. strategy by expending resources without improving U.S. security.”

The........

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