About The Competitive
Statecraft Initiative

The long-term ascendency of democratic values and a rules-based international order is neither inevitable nor irreversible. Adversaries are aggressively pursuing competing visions and value sets, undermining U.S. interests and eroding U.S. influence with their own combative approaches to Competitive Statecraft. These include the use of surrogates and proxies, coercive economic policies, the destabilization of friendly nations, influence operations targeting democratic elections, persistent cyberattacks, and more. Exacerbating these complex, state-based challenges are terrorist networks, transnational criminal organizations, climate change, displaced populations, and global health crises. The international security environment all but begs for confident and assertive leadership and cooperation between liberal democracies.

These challenges demand an American approach to Competitive Statecraft—one that reflects American values and capitalizes on American strengths. The U.S. has unmatched capabilities in its military, intelligence community, diplomatic corps and development agencies, and still leads the world in technological innovation, economic capacity, and cultural influence. But the cumulative effect of all these advantages has been less than the sum of its parts, and recent efforts have not resulted in favorable and enduring strategic outcomes, especially when challenged by adversaries employing irregular means.