Gates’s Way to National Security | GoodFellows: Conversations From The Hoover Institution

Recorded May 18, 2021

It’s a complicated world—one in which an ascendant China threatens American concerns, fighting has recommenced in the Middle East, and the US government may not be suitably prepared for future cyberattacks. Robert Gates, secretary of defense in both the Obama and Bush 43 presidential administrations, joins Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, H. R. McMaster, and John Cochrane to discuss the state of world affairs, US cybersecurity, and America’s global vision (or lack thereof).

ABOUT THE SERIES

GoodFellows, a weekly Hoover Institution broadcast, features senior fellows John Cochrane, Niall Ferguson, and H.R. McMaster discussing the social, economic, and geostrategic ramifications of this changed world. They can’t banter over lunch these days, but they continue their spirited conversation online about what comes next, as we look forward to an end to the crisis.

[pelicanbird]

Please bring back Secretary Gates to discuss Taiwan and other issues. 👍

[stud]

Stop being a declining power: start by bankrupting the woke university departments

[johnambeltran]

Aw what. Bill, we could easily have gone to 60+ mins. Just let it run Bill, please

[davebarbadillo]

We are lucky to have such brilliant gentlemen

[davidberndt]

Please have Sec. Gates back for part 2. One hour went fast and was only getting started

[frederickfassbender]

What an unsatisfying ending. The Secretary's assertion beginning near the 48 minute mark that "authoritarianism" was always more dangerous than communism was an eyebrow-raising, to say the least. Ostensibly, the secretary doesn't think Mao was historically less of a threat to the US than Chiang, and I think Ferguson (heck, McMaster also) would've disputed that assertion with respect to present-day Chinese governing ideology had time allotted. But from there, the Secretary's follow-up specification that an example of such dangerous "authoritarianism" is present-day Hungary was bewildering. One is left to wonder what the point of it all was in combatting soviet ideology in Eastern Europe and Hungary in particular if the Secretary's assertions are to be believed, especially in light of his comments about his prior analysis of the USSR earlier in the discussion.

[richardgrosvenor]

Students of history recall Gates's missteps, in respect of Russia (their reform being a Soviet trick on the West), Iran (the Contra show) and arms technology bestowed on Israel (Gates whined about the USA having received nothing in return in respect of peace accords - he railed against "Bibi" at the time - topical right now). Any kid in grade school would point to cyberspace as being the threat of today to world order and stability.
In respect of Cold War II, I would submit that the result of the Cold War I, is yet to be decided (the USA may have bankrupted the then USSR, however, increasingly clear now, destroyed our own economy in the process).
HR is singularly on top of this week's topic and I look forward to his economic perspectives once he's across the subject, as he mentioned on one of these recent podcasts.

[ashthebash]

Very enlightening. Gate's comment that communism is dead fails to realize how it's ideology had morphed into identify politics, which is also very destructive.
Also, he mentions that every American president should be 'America first' but then talks about Hungary's premier as an existential threat when, according to my interpretation, that is the policy he has adopted for his country. Thought's?

[jdbatha]

I disagree that Americans are no longer internationalists solely due to the wars. They are instead resentful of a system which serves corporate interests rather than their own. NAFTA and exporting manufacturing are as much to blame.

[mpetry]

what a great interview, honored guest. this is probably worth a 2nd listen, thank you !

[jimluebke]

Please clip HR McMaster's outline of the US strategy and Secretary Gates' critical response, and post that to the channel.

It is important enough to highlight on its own.

[ACBMemphis]

Why is critical infrastructure even connected to the Internet, where it can be attacked and hacked? So what if we can manage a power plant remotely...? Increase the salary budget and pay someone to be on site 24/7 at the power plant - this would be a cheap solution. Maybe there could be some incentive/tax break for private oil companies who bring their networks up to military standards?

[lawjef]

And I thought that I was pessimistic about cyber security risks. Essential viewing (as per usual).

At some point it would be interesting to discuss the scenario where a cyber hack leads to non-cyber / economic retaliation. I cannot speak to their credibility, but a number of cyber experts were obviously concerned that the solar winds hack was perilously close to that line in the sand

[jimluebke]

"Communists ideology is dead." Yup. The dialectic has produced the market-economic welfare state as a synthesis between capitalism and communism.

The dialectic has moved on, to Authoritarian Bureaucracy vs. Liberty-minded Democracy. This will be fought out both domestically and internationally, with the Covid response, federalism, China vs. the US, and even centralized Internet (YouTube) censorship vs. a "Fedaverse", playing out over a generation.

One epoch to have the idea, one to implement it, one to find the problems with it, one to find the solutions to those problems, and the cycle starts again.

[dongaetano]

First: Nice Power Grab by Niall, rapid deployment, excellent military strategy - I guess history has many benefits - sorry John, would have liked to hear what you had to say and, glad you got the last question in, as it gave us some great insights.

Thanks to all for the excellent questions, though I don't agree with all Mr Gates said, his vast experience and knowledge give us many valuable anecdotes from history and experience to help us understand the best actions for our current problems - many are helpful and few I'm in disagreement with.

Bill as always a great moderator and looking forward to a Gates 2 program. Friday the 21st as I listen so hope you all have a great weekend this weekend.
Love the Fellas and Hoover

(PS as You al know, old carpenter here, setantuno anni, and 11 pgs away from finishing the Gulag, and though that close, I could not rush it and read one page the other day and stopped, just to let it sink in. Has happened frequently in my log time of short reads to get through it, a life changing read. Makes you appreciate what our Founders have done here, its beauty and magnificence and genius. I am thankful for them and for Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and his amazing work.)

[jonpalmer]

It such a shame this only when for one hour - love to hear Gates views on currents risks over Taiwan and US military of today

[leftmit]

"The only two presidents who read a lot of history were Harry Truman and Richard Nixon." Robert Gates burns Woodrow Wilson 45:54

[jimluebke]

Trump: "Why are we in NATO still?"
Gates: "Because our alliances are a unique asset in our ability to advance our interests and principles around the world."

The rest of us: "Could you propose some specific initiatives that make our expenditures on NATO worthwhile, in terms of advancing our interests and principles around the world?"

[bobbinsthethird]

And here I was thinking Gates's Way would mean you'd have Bill Gates.
Here's a blast to the past with HR McMaster

[juliejfw]

Why the US had no foresight to equip the Mars rover with military defense to protect itself from the China rover, also on Mars, I have no idea.