Policymakers and the public have renewed their attention to the United States’ standing in the global technological competition, with particular concern towards the country’s position relative to China. Most discussions of this technology race focus on each state’s innovation capacity or, in other words, its ability to achieve new scientific breakthroughs.
However, George Washington University Assistant Professor Dr. Jeff Ding argues that this view misses an important distinction in determining a state’s S&T prowess. Dr. Ding contends that a state’s ability to diffuse new technology, spreading the innovation and promoting its adoption, is just as important as its ability to innovate. Dr. Ding outlines this argument in detail in his forthcoming book, Technology and the Rise of Great Powers.
On September 11, CSET hosted Dr. Ding for a webinar to discuss his argument and share its implications for the United States, China and other countries in today’s technology competition.
Final Recording
Participants
Dr. Jeffrey Ding is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University. Previously, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, sponsored by Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. Dr. Ding researches great power competition and cooperation in emerging technologies, the political economy of innovation, and China’s scientific and technological capabilities. His book, Technology and the Rise of Great Powers (Princeton University Press, 2024), investigates how past technological revolutions influenced the rise and fall of great powers, with implications for U.S.-China competition in emerging technologies like AI. Other work has been published or is forthcoming in European Journal of International Relations, European Journal of International Security, Foreign Affairs, International Studies Quarterly, Review of International Political Economy, and Security Studies, and my research has been cited in The Washington Post, The Financial Times, and other outlets. Dr. Ding received his PhD in 2021 from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. Previously, he worked as a researcher for Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology and Oxford’s Centre for the Governance of AI. Growing up in Iowa City, he became a lifelong Hawkeye fan and attended the University of Iowa for his undergraduate studies.
Hanna Dohmen is a Research Analyst at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), where she focuses on U.S. national competitiveness in emerging technologies and U.S.-China technology competition. She conducts research on economic statecraft, the semiconductor supply chain, China’s S&T ecosystem, and U.S. innovation policies. Previously, Hanna worked as a consultant advising multinational private sector clients on geopolitical, regulatory, and reputational risks. Hanna holds a BS in Regional and Comparative Studies of Europe and Asia from Georgetown University. Hanna is currently pursuing a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.