“We have to see the world for what it is, not as we wish it were.” – Jacob Helberg
Jacob Helberg (@jacobhelberg) is the author of the recently published book, The Wires of War: Technology and the Global Struggle for Power. He is also Co-Chair of the China Strategy Initiative Working Group at The Brookings Institution, Senior Advisor of the Program on Geopolitics & Technology at the Cyber Policy Center and an adjunct fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
To listen to Jacob’s quick interview on habits, routines, and inspirations, click here.
For more, explore the transcript of this episode.
Chapters
- 00:00:00 – Introduction
- 00:03:13 – Jacob's background and introduction to geopolitics
- 00:05:45 – Jacob's book, The Wires of War
- 00:08:16 – Defining autocracy
- 00:12:02 – Watershed moments in geopolitics
- 00:15:27 – The physical infrastructure of the internet, and how it can be manipulated
- 00:18:13 – China is a peer competitor
- 00:28:20 – The need for US proactivity with autocracies
- 00:36:52 – Cold war, gray war, and hot peace
- 00:40:02 – How the US should work to preserve democracy
- 00:48:12 – Optimism in geopolitics
Links
- Connect with Jacob Helberg: Twitter | LinkedIn
- The Wires of War: Technology and the Global Struggle for Power by Jacob Helberg
- History of Jews in Tunisia
- Autocracy
- CCP – Chinese Communist Party
- Grey War
- Jasmine revolution in China
- Mubarak regime
- Arab Spring
- TikTok
- Google News
- Huawei
- ZTE
- Sputnik
- Chinese cyber attack on India
- Fait accompli
- Xi Jinping
- China's launch of a hypersonic missile
- Blackstone investment in China
- Anduril
- Saildrone
- Varda
- Yahoo pulling out in China
- Microsoft pulling LinkedIn from China
Learn More About This Topic
The Global Power Shift – TED
This playlist of TED talks covering everything from the rise of China to geopolitical maps is a great starting point.
The Hundred-Year Marathon: China's Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower by Michael Pillsbury
Jacob describes this resource as dense and tough to get through, but full of insights.
On China by Henry Kissinger
Jacob enjoyed comparing insights from this book to that of Pillsbury’s book above.
Never Give In! The Best of Winston Churchill's Speeches
This collection of Churchill’s speeches is a favorite of Jacob’s, full of examples of Churchill’s eloquence and humor.
The Lights are Going Out, 1938 – Winston Churchill
Jacob’s favorite speech by Churchill, about the trend of advancing autocracies and retreating democracies.
