Innovation is a pre-requisite to national security—aff turns the da, not vice versa

Innovation will be a crucial requirement for US leadership and national security in the twenty-first century. The United States faces an era of global competition across all elements of national power. In the economic arena, American domination has necessarily been comparatively receding as the world continues to develop. Militarily, challenges have expanded geographically and qualitatively as multi-polarity and diffusion of power increases the number of capable state and nonstate actors. Diplomacy has become more complex as information capabilities are available throughout the world, populaces are more engaged, and there are strong ideological challenges to the Western, liberal rules-based model. The United States is still the most powerful nation, but maintaining successful leadership and strong national security will require the United States to build on and enhance its existing strengths. A crucial element of that requirement will be the capacity to innovate regularly and effectively. Innovation will be a prerequisite to leadership across all elements of national power.

This report proposes that both the US government and the American private sector take significant steps to encourage innovation beyond what the United States, already an innovative society, has successfully accomplished. The key elements will be enhanced development of the “cluster model” for innovation, which engages the public, private, and nonprofit sectors jointly; greater government focus on innovation; increased support for innovation by corporations; expanding the spectrum of entrepreneurs; and maintaining the diversity of ideas and approaches necessary for innovation while expanding the synergies between and among the multiple elements of the innovation landscape, including increasing the permeability between the national security agencies and the private sector.

I. THE INNOVATION IMPERATIVE— LEADERSHIP AND NATIONAL SECURITY

“[R]esearch has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly,” President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Military-Industrial Complex Speech, 1961

“Whether it’s improving our health or harnessing clean energy, protecting our security or succeeding in the global economy, our future depends on reaffirming America’s role as the world’s engine of scientific discovery and technological innovation. “ Remarks by President Barack Obama on the “Educate to Innovate” Campaign and Science Teaching and Mentoring Awards, January 6, 2010

The United States has long been the world’s most innovative society, and that innovation has been a key element undergirding America’s international leadership and strength. The national security strategy states that “Scientific discovery and technological innovation empower American leadership with a competitive edge that secures our military advantage, propels our economy, and improves the human condition.”1 This requirement for innovation has become increasingly critical as America’s overwhelming dominance in other arenas—a key factor in the twentieth century—has been comparatively reduced.

• Economically: While the United States remains the world’s largest economy, there are expectations that it will be overtaken in gross size by China.2 Per capita income in the United States is below multiple countries3 while median real income has actually fallen since 1999.4

• Militarily: While United States forces have unparalleled capabilities, the challenges posed by Iraq, Afghanistan, ISIS, the worldwide demands of counterterrorism, Russian actions in Ukraine and elsewhere, and the confrontations in the East and South China Seas all demonstrate the multiple and diverse demands that the military faces. Without innovation in defense capabilities, the United States will face technological parity, losing the advantage it has maintained for over half a century.