The arrival of faster wireless networks, ubiquitous sensors, smarter software, and new methods for delivering connectivity are reshaping cities and societies.
U.S. infrastructure has been dangerously neglected, even as it has become more strategically important with climate change, innovation, and China’s rise. At stake is the United States’ military readiness, national resiliency, and global competitiveness.
Illiberal regimes use a wide range of tools to undermine democratic institutions and alliances, prevent criticism of their own regimes and governance systems, and establish norms and standards favorable to autocratic rule. In the case of digital information technology, these efforts go beyond shaping norms to controlling the infrastructure that transmits information itself. To date, democracies have been slow to adapt to this contest, but the United States can regain the initiative if it addresses its vulnerabilities, leverages its strategic advantages, and reframes the contest on its own terms.
Serbia is a hub for a wide range of Chinese economic activity in the Western Balkans, as previous CSIS research has indicated. This report, the second in a series, examines Serbia in greater detail to shed more light on China’s political and economic objectives, its mechanisms for influence, and the implications of its activities, including a second wave of digital infrastructure projects.
Overcoming the barriers to a free trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom, the world’s largest and fifth-largest economies, could balance China’s rise and infuse the digital future with democratic standards.
In competing with China, the United States and its democratic allies should place the free flow of data and an open global digital economy at the heart of their strategy.