Week 7 Questions: Policy & Government

[deholz]

Questions for Governor Jerry Brown.

[timok15]

How do you consider the influence of systemic pressures for certain policy measures against individual pressures/whims? Where is a common place that you see these two areas intertwining in policy? Have you yourself felt these pressures on you?

[DNT21711]

How should nations start to address the risk of nuclear proliferation? Following steps towards nuclear disarmament, what kind of international cooperation is essential for global security? Considering the importance of technological advancements, how can they be leveraged to mitigate existential risks?

[lubaishao]

Today, structural realism is still the dominant theory of IR. UChicago Professor John Mearsheimer describes the behaviors of the US preventing China from dominating Asia as "offshore balancer." You mentioned in "Washington's Crackpot Realism" that the US should "get our own house in order, and seek a decent modus vivendi," to what extent you think this is possible without war, even small scale? If it's really happening, do you think the world will split into two worlds as two great powers vigilantly prevent the other from invading their sphere of influence?

[miansimmons]

In your writings, you highlighted the growing dangers of nuclear proliferation. Given the increase in our nation's defense budget for nuclear modernization efforts, how confident are you that the U.S. will stop "sleepwalking" and pursue disarmament in the future? Is it likely that political leaders will shift nuclear policy away from first use/launch on warning to second-strike retaliation?

[ldbauer1011]

The idea brought up in William Perry's book The Button, emphasize the idea that overconfidence causes carelessness and increases the likelihood of risk-taking. And yet, even the blown whistles from the scientific community about the dangers of nuclear annihilation have bee normalized and, in a way, neutralized to the point where policymakers expect such warnings, and act anyway. What can we do to counteract this apathy that doesn't involve a new, much more recent example of the horrors of nuclear warfare than Hiroshima and Nagasaki? What will it take to wake up citizens and policy-makers?

[M-Hallikainen]

While nations moving towards total nuclear disarmament seems unlikely, especially in our current international climate, there are a number of historical success stories like the disarmament of Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan after the fall of the USSR and the dismantling of South Africa's nuclear weapons program in the late 80s. Can we take lessons from this historical examples when moving towards global disarmament, or dose the contemporary nuclear landscape require fundamentally different solutions?

[oliviaegross]

What do you think about companies like Anduril Industries (an $8.5 billion company that develops drones, autonomous vehicles, submarines, rockets, and software for military use) who are attempting to disrupt the defense marketplace, bring Silicon Valley’s speed, creativity, and innovation to defense, and advance our national security? Do you think the defense industry needs disruption?

[AnikSingh1]

When discussing a cooperative world to fight the problems the world presents to us, you described the importance of interdependence between nations. If China and America are so similar, yet become increasingly hostile when discussing policy, what do you think needs to change before this interdependence can become a reality? Does the problem stem from differing governmental systems, the people that foster these positions of power, or something entirely outside the box?

[jamaib]

Given the complexity of the US-China relationship and the serious consequences of potential conflict, what specific steps do you believe policymakers in both countries should prioritize in order to shift the current trajectory towards cooperation and mitigate the risk of catastrophic outcomes? You say that we must "accept that China’s system is different from ours, get our own house in order, and seek a decent modus vivendi" but what exactly does that look like?

[ghagle]

Do you think that there is a way (or is there currently a campaign/communications method that looks promising) for politicians to leverage nuclear regulation to their advantage in elections? Doing so would, I imagine, rarely--if ever--be advantageous. It exposes a candidate to accusations of weakness, wanting to diminish US power, etc.

[imilbauer]

Ord writes about how there is no trial and error when it comes to existential risk. How can we make predictions about the scenarios in which an adversary would use nuclear weapons when there is no historical precedent to work off of? Can we always assume that adversaries are motivated by self-preservation and not ideological aims? What is the risk that a hostile non-state actor gets a nuclear weapon in the next 50 years?

[cbgravitt]

With nuclear escalation as alive as ever and spreading to more and more countries (US allies or otherwise), what role do you think the US should take on an international level in terms of nuclear disarmament? An example, an enforcer, something else?

[briannaliu]

In your article, "Washington’s Crackpot Realism," you describe Mills’ term “crackpot realism,” in which he refers to “leaders who he believed were making incredibly reckless decisions with little understanding of the consequences, while believing themselves to be exceptionally rational.” How can we ensure that the leaders we elect are not vulnerable to this tendency?

[mibr4601]

Right now, we live in a world where nations are competing to be more advanced and better than other nations. Thus, there is not much international collaboration when it comes to technological advancements. How would you incentivize international collaboration and the sharing of technological advancements in order to minimize existential threats?

[WPDolan]

In your article, A Stark Nuclear Warning, you agree with the notion that the US is closer to nuclear catastrophe than it has ever been, including during the cold war. Do you believe that the international community has a realistic path to reverting back to 1990s' level of nuclear risk through diplomatic channels?

[Hai1218]

Thank you for speaking at our class, Governor Brown! Considering the view that America's political and social project may rely on the existence of adversaries for its survival and identity, how do you balance this form of realism with the need for an adversary against the goal of achieving genuine peace and international cooperation? Is it possible to evolve our national narrative towards unity and purpose without defaulting to opposition or conflict as a means of defining ourselves, both domestically and on the world stage?

[maevemcguire]

Given this NYT article: Russia’s Advances on Space-Based Nuclear Weapons Draw U.S. Concerns” that came out today, how does this news alter your perspective of the threat of nuclear doom? Do you believe – in alliance with Perry – that there “could be no acceptable defense against a mass nuclear attack?”

[summerliu1027]

Could you elaborate on what a beginning towards "planetary realism" will look like in today's world? What would an actionable policy framework that both maintains U.S. strategic clarity and strengthens global stability look like?

[kallotey]

In your article “Washington’s Crackpot Realism,” you discuss that America’s history of ill-conceived and disastrous wars could potentially get in the way of collaborative global collaborative efforts, something particularly risky with China. How do you suggest we work around the past to focus on common interests when tackling existential threats?

[AudreyPScott]

I was particularly interested in our readings of The Button by Perry. In it, a policy recommendation is to prohibit first use and to prohibit launch on warning. Yet there is no true qualm raised here, aside from the discussion of nuclear threat, with a second, retaliatory strike. Is there any moment where a second strike is ethical, knowing what may come next?

[tosinOO]

Do you believe there is any merit to the idea that arming many nations with nuclear weapons will ultimately lead to a more secure world? This idea, I believe, mainly stems from the notion of mutually assured destruction. While there would certainly be a greater threat of mutually assured destruction if every nation could just launch on each other, I personally believe the issue with this idea is the weapons would likely eventually fall into the hands of rogue nations or other terrorist groups.

[aaron-wineberg02]

Could you discuss how joint nuclear programs such as AUKUS may disrupt traditional understandings of nuclear proliferation with regards to US-China relations?

[Daniela-miaut]

I have two questions. First, what do you think of the probability of a war between the US and China in a decade? Second, do you think sufficient democracy as a necessary condition of achieving collaborate action on dealing with existential risks?

[GreatPraxis]

There is the idea that global collaborative efforts could foster a better relationship with China and avoid disastrous conflicts. However, China has a history of accusation about infringing human rights such as with Uyghurs. Should the US and the Western world ignore these issues in the pursuit of averting global conflict? Moreover, is it ethical to refrain from supporting such accusations against China in the interest of maintaining better relations?

[agupta818]

Do you envision countries like the US and China collaborating in order to tackle issues like nuclear proliferation or climate change? Will they put their personal interests aside?

[gabrielmoos]

In 1996 there was stark opposition to NATO expansion into Poland, Hungary, Czechia and the Baltics and since then we’ve seen the degradation of US-Russia relations. Do you think it was a wise move to try to include Ukraine in NATO or do you think there were preventative measures that could have been taken to prevent the Russian invasion of Ukraine?