As Congress considers reauthorizing the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), lawmakers from both parties are recognizing Latin America’s importance to US interests. Increased American investment in the region could help counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative, drive economic growth in the Western Hemisphere, and promote America’s global standing.Beijing’s efforts to increase its influence in Latin America have intensified over the past decade. Chinese investments in Latin America since 2015 exceed $130 billion. Meanwhile, political instability and insecurity have compounded longstanding economic challenges in the region. In these conditions, the US urgently needs a new economic engagement strategy that prioritizes broad-based economic development.Join Hudson for a panel that will examine some of the tools that could help revitalize US investment in the region, including development finance, political risk insurance, and economic innovation zones.
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58:34
Patents and China: What Is the Right Policy for the America First Agenda?
President Donald Trump’s America First economic agenda aims to build a robust and thriving economy for the benefit of all Americans. Revitalizing patents is crucial to achieving this vision. Since the Founding era, reliable and effective patents have been key to growing the United States’ innovation economy. Intellectual property rights are critical today for universities and startups, the classic market disrupters that President Trump has called “little tech.” These relatively small organizations drive innovation in the US and sustain the American dream.Intellectual property rights are also crucial to US national security. Patents and other protections play a critical role in the race for global technological leadership, particularly in competition with China.Join Hudson for an expert panel on how reliable and effective patent rights are the key to the America First agenda: growing the US innovation economy, creating jobs, and responding to challenges from global competitors like China.
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54:49
Building Weapons that Adapt and Scale
The war in Ukraine and the United States’ operation to defend shipping against Houthi attacks in the Red Sea highlight how weapons inventories can make the difference between deterring aggression and losing a war. But the US military’s munitions portfolio is weighted toward sophisticated missiles whose tightly integrated designs and bespoke supply chains cannot be produced—or modified—at the pace modern conflict demands. As a result, current operations are depleting the magazines US forces will need in a potential confrontation against China.But today’s conflicts also demonstrate that a new generation of less-sophisticated missiles and drone/missile hybrids is increasingly effective on the modern battlefield. The proliferation of advanced software and commercial microelectronics has helped enable Houthi rebels and Ukraine’s defenders to stress or overcome more capable adversaries. The US military could exploit these same innovations to field a new family of munitions that can provide scale and adaptability and complement the lethality and reach of its most capable weapons.Join Hudson Senior Fellows Bryan Clark and Nadia Schadlow for a discussion of the opportunities and challenges in establishing a new weapons design and development approach with leaders from the US Air Force, Defense Innovation Unit, and US defense industry.
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1:04:12
To Invent Is Divine: Creativity, Ownership, and the US Patent System
Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers, and many other inventors were enabled by the United States’ patent system, which has created wealth, spurred commercial and industrial progress, and improved the American standard of living for well over a century. But since then, policy changes have weakened this system, creating a wedge between creativity and ownership. In his new book To Invent Is Divine: Creativity and Ownership, James Edwards discusses how the intellectual property (IP) system designed by the American Founders became the world’s “gold standard.” He explains how patents—and IP generally—combine creative ability with ownership incentives, democratizing invention and securing the fruits of inventive labors with property rights.Join Adam Mossoff for a conversation with the author about why IP protections are essential for fostering human flourishing, how the American system has been degraded, and steps policymakers can take to restore the system that has benefited the US and the world.
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1:02:35
Winning the Fight: How Ending Malaria Advances American Interests
As the Trump administration reevaluates the United States’ approach to foreign assistance and global health programs, the People’s Republic of China is sending a message throughout the Global South: America cannot be trusted. As the PRC seeks to supplant the US as the world’s preeminent power, America’s commitment to continue leading in global health—specifically in the fight against malaria—is more critical than ever.Experts and policymakers will join Hudson’s Michael Sobolik to discuss how leadership in the fight against malaria matters to US-China competition.
Founded in 1961 by strategist Herman Kahn, Hudson Institute challenges conventional thinking and helps manage strategic transitions through interdisciplinary studies in defense, international relations, economics, energy, technology, culture, and law.
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