runde lectures on U.s. global leadership

By LIAM KELLY news Writer

d aniel r unde, s enior v ice President of the c enter for s trategic and International s tudies, promoted his new book, “The American Imperative: r eclaiming Global Leadership through s oft Power” during a lecture at Jenkins n anovic h alls on Tuesday afternoon. In his address, r unde urged the United s tates to provide a leadership agenda that speaks to developing countries. r unde noted that “we’re not in the post- c old War age anymore” and that America’s position as a unipolar world power is now being challenged, having entered an age of “great power competition” with r ussia and c hina.

“The c hinese c ommunist Party and v ladimir Putin’s murderous regime can fill voids today that they couldn’t 20 years ago,” r unde pointed out. “They can fill voids in vaccines, they can fill voids in the digital space, they can fill voids in infrastructure, they can fill security voids, they can fill values voids.”

While there may be a bipartisan consensus that America now faces a threat from c hina and r ussia, “what we don’t have in Washington yet is a consensus on what the heck to do about it,” r unde said. o ne of the most important theaters of this great power competition, r unde said, will be Africa.

If the United s tates does not muster a response to this threat, the consequences could be catastrophic, he warned.

“The c hinese c ommunist Party is hoping to set up an alternate world system.

If there’s a world led by the c hinese c ommunist Party, no one is going to like it,” r unde said.

This fierce competition between the U. s ., r ussia and c hina, r unde said, is not likely to take the form of direct military confrontation, but rather a battle of ideas and resources in non-aligned countries throughout the developing world.

“The United s tates and our allies need to offer a positive, forwardlooking agenda that speaks to the hopes and aspirations of other countries as an alternative to a c hinese c ommunist Party and v ladimir Putin partnership in developing countries,” he added.

If the United s tates does not provide a vision of leadership for these countries, “they’re going to take their business somewhere else,” r unde predicted.

“A big part of our future is in Africa. There are a billion people in Africa today. 25 years from today there will be more citizens of Africa than all the citizens of India and mainland c hina combined,” he said. r unde argued that countries in the developing world are now looking for more infrastructure, technology, education partnerships, trade and investment from the United s tates, as opposed to just aid. h e also urged diplomats to spend more time in these developing countries and learn the native languages as opposed to simply speaking e nglish or French. r unde focused on technology as a centerpiece for the competition between the United s tates and r ussia and c hina.

The agenda that the United s tates provides in this region has to change with changing times, r unde said.

“The kinds of things that speak to our friends’ hopes and aspirations are changing. This isn’t your grandparents’ developing world. It’s not even your parent’s developing world. It’s richer, freer, healthier with a lot more agency,” he explained.

“I do not think it’s in our interest to have the digital rails of the future be owned by [ c hina]. It’s not in our interests, it’s not in our friends interests. We need an alternative,” he pressed. r unde also warned against using software owned by c hina that could be used to surveil Americans. h e specifically focused on TikTok, which has been subject to recent scrutiny in c ongress.

“This is bad news. This tracks everywhere you go,” he said of TikTok.

While r unde acknowledged that students might enjoy the funny videos they see on the app, he implored his audience to think more deeply about c hina’s intentions in promoting the app in the United s tates.

“ d id you know, on mainland c hina, they restrict the use of Tik Tok [to] … only 1 or 2 hours?” he said. “Why is it allowed here? It’s almost like a new opium. It’s almost like they’re exporting something. It’s almost like they’re doing it on purpose.” h e also warned against progressive d emocrats and isolationist r epublicans who want to see the United s tates withdraw from a leadership role on the world stage.

While r unde said he hasn’t heard any proponents of this view, “say they’re cool with c hina leading the world,” that could be the consequence of such a policy. h e pointed to international institutions such as the World b ank and the United n ations as proof of this notion, arguing that if the United s tates refuses to lead here, c hina will.

“There are some unfortunate things about the multilateral system,” r unde conceded. “ b ut, if we have a fit and quit, guess what? c hina can fill that void.” d espite the threat posed by c hina and r ussia a nd the looming specter of conflict between the two nations, he urged for greater understanding between the peoples of these countries and the United s tates.

“We need people-to-people connectivity,” r unde explained. “We should make c hinese students in the United s tates welcome. I think it’s one of our strengths.”

As he recommended seeking understanding with c hina, r unde also reaffirmed the need for the United s tates to stand up to the country and assert its role as leader of the international system.

“Leadership is a choice,” r unde stated. “I’m arguing that we need to lead.”

Contact Liam Kelly at lkelly8@nd.edu