Foreign Relations & International Law

ChinaTalk: Michèle Flournoy on "Affecting the Strategic Calculus‪"‬

Jordan Schneider
Wednesday, March 31, 2021, 8:38 AM

Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
Brookings

Michèle Flournoy joined AcquisitionTalk's Eric Lofgren and me for another crossover episode of China-AcquisitionTalk. Flournoy is a former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, co-founder and new board chair of CNAS (where I'm a fellow), and currently the founder and managing partner of WestExec Advisors. I dove deep into the archive, digging up copies of Flournoy's undergraduate and master's theses to discuss "psycho-social approaches to international relations" and 1980s nuclear policy. We also covered: China’s approach to systems destruction warfare; how to make a compelling case for technologists to join Pentagon Nuclear policy and affecting the strategic calculus; whether “legacy” weapons need divestment; and a “Manhattan Project” for AI/ML.

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Outtro music: O.WEN《官方回答》 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXT3zITsydQ

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The views expressed in this podcast do not reflect those of the Rhodium Group.


Jordan Schneider is the host of the ChinaTalk podcast and newsletter. He previously worked at Kwai, Bridgewater and the Eurasia Group. His Chinese landscape paintings "show promise."

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