National security challenges and competition: US defense and space R&D in a strategic context

This paper addresses the evolution of the role of science and technology as a strategic national security advantage. From World War II and the Cold War to the present and projected future, this role has changed. Advances in digitized sensors, processors, storage, communications, and display have proliferated across the globe. The network connectivity enabled by this revolution has itself revolutionized almost all aspects of global life. The technology from which national security systems are derived is increasingly drawn from the vibrant, globalized industrial base that is the foundation of commercial and economic success. The desire for secrecy and technology control that is natural to the creation of national security capabilities is now in conflict with this globalized and open commercial marketplace. Contending pressures for cooperation among nations and the need to protect against misbehavior by some of those same nations makes managing national security technologies increasingly challenging.