The Soft Path to U.S. Hegemony in the 21st Century: An American Brain Drain Policy against Strategic Competitors

Abstract

During the four years of the Trump administration, American strategy adopted a provocative realpolitik approach to American power. Trump’s administration was so focused on U.S. nationalism and threats to American identity that domestic immigration policies became viewed as existential threats. With the introduction of great power competition discourse against China and Russia 2017, a renewed U.S. emphasis on conventional military power and traditional warfare ignores the reality of an increasingly globalized, interconnected world. China and Russia have grown their regional spheres of influence while making in-roads elsewhere with asymmetric tools of influence. While debates rage about how to confront China and Russia through projection of military and economic power, we ask: What can the U.S. do in the long-term to out-compete illiberal authoritarian states? Nullifying Chinese and Russian economic and military power means re-creating a grand strategy that leverages the unwelcoming internal illiberal politics in China and Russia. The U.S. must capitalize on the totalitarian world vision espoused by strategic competitors by emphasizing a liberal ideology to convince the best and brightest around the world to immigrate to America, thus contributing to innovation and overall American hard power. Choosing liberalism over realism will produce an attractive citizen recruitment proposition for the most educated and innovative citizens living in authoritarian regimes, with them leaving their home countries in favor of a United States that promotes free-markets and inclusivity. We contend that America needs a Strategic Brain Drain policy as a grand strategy pillar for 21st century strategic competition.