CSIS Report Offers Roadmap for New Administration to Ensure U.S. Economic Security and Technology Leadership

Leading experts from CSIS Economic Security and Technology Department propose future directions in economic security policy amid growing technology competition

WASHINGTON, D.C. – October 29, 2024 – The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) today published a major new report offering recommendations for the next U.S. administration to ensure America’s economic security amid growing global technology competition. The report, Staying Ahead in the Global Technology Race: A Roadmap for Economic Security, comes amid a growing bipartisan consensus on the need to modernize U.S. and allied economic policies and institutions amid rising geostrategic technology competition and global threats.

Staying Ahead in the Global Technology Race: A Roadmap for Economic Security—the first report from the newly formed Economic Security and Technology Department—offers insights from leading CSIS policy experts, with a focus on four key areas that should shape U.S. economic security strategy: protection of sensitive technologies; the role of government and markets in reindustrialization; international technology cooperation and competition; and global technology governance.

“Global technology competition is gathering pace. Losing their edge in advanced technologies will render the United States and its allies more vulnerable to economic dislocation, threats by malign actors, and global crises such as climate change,” said Navin Girishankar, president of the CSIS Economic Security and Technology Department. “The urgent task of developing an effective allied economic security strategy should be the top priority for the next U.S. administration. In our inaugural report, we recommend a path forward on export controls, global technology governance, and domestic incentives for building technology capabilities, as well as a refresh on U.S. and allied technology cooperation. The report is an example of what is to come from our department – a strategic research agenda focused on real world solutions to the challenge of technology leadership in a challenging national security environment.”

The CSIS Economic Security and Technology Department examines the most pressing issues facing the United States and its partners in sustaining economic and technological advantages essential to prosperity, security, and resilience. It brings unique breadth and depth of expertise across economic policy, global markets, and advanced technologies. It serves as a center of excellence for insights, policies, and strategies that drive competitiveness, technology leadership, and national security.

The Department is led by Navin Girishankar, who was named department president in July 2024. Girishankar joined CSIS after serving as the senior counselor to the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce, with responsibility for a wide range of domestic and international issues. He previously held senior commercial roles at Bridgewater Associates and served for over two decades at the World Bank, where he held senior policy, country, finance, and evaluation roles.

The formation of the Economic Security and Technology Department is part of a broader strategic realignment of CSIS programming to better prepare the institution to meet global challenges in the coming years. With a focus on geopolitics, economic security, technology, defense, and U.S. global engagement, CSIS will integrate cross-disciplinary research on both short- and long-term issues that will determine American prosperity and security in the decades ahead.

Visit here to read the report. Learn more about the CSIS Economic Security and Technology Department by visiting here.

For media inquiries, please contact Andrew Schwartz (aschwartz@csis.org) or Sam Cestari (scestari@csis.org).