FP This Week: The Scramble for AI

Our Summer 2023 print issue. JUNE 20, 2023  |  [VIEW IN BROWSER](  |  [SUBSCRIBE](     The [latest issue]( of Foreign Policy—“The Scramble for AI”—is our attempt to understand how this new technology is shaping geopolitics. In the [lead essay](, Paul Scharre likens the current race for supremacy in AI to the nuclear race several decades ago. Now as then, competition will likely mean a sprint to secure the materials that go into computing hardware. It will also create a world of haves and have-nots. Scharre lays out a strategy for winning—and regulating—this race. Will the United States stay ahead of China on AI? That might be the wrong question, according to two top scholars at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar and Matt Sheehan. Policy wonks should instead be asking how the United States can reduce the likelihood of [catastrophic AI-related accidents]( in interactions with China. What about warfare? Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who led U.S. forces in Afghanistan, pairs up with AI expert Anshu Roy to describe how unbelievable amounts of data points are now being fed into machines to [predict battlefield outcomes](. This isn’t just hypothetical. Their systems are already in use. The question is how to make sure AI is used in war planning the right way and by the right actors. Think you can tell the difference between an essay written by a machine and one by a smart human student? There’s only one way to find out. Our [analysis]( will reveal the machine’s tells—until the next version of GPT, of course.—Ravi Agrawal, FP editor in chief   New and Noteworthy - HERO Season 4: In partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the latest series of [The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women]( focuses on one theme: the role of male allies. Host Reena Ninan and reporters across Africa visit religious leaders in Kenya, interview a former politician in Lesotho, and talk to male allies changing men’s attitudes toward gender-based violence in South Africa, among others. Listen to the first episode of Season 4 on [Apple](, [Spotify](, or wherever you get your podcasts. - It’s Not a Barbie World: Barbie, the most famous doll in the world, symbol of American girlhood, and now the star of a feature film, carries with her, along with many accessories, a complicated origin story. Azadeh Moaveni [delves]( into Barbie’s history and her evolution as a symbol of beauty and femininity—and why she never quite made it abroad in the same way she did at home. - Wardrobe Diplomacy: In Netflix’s The Diplomat, Keri Russell plays a U.S. ambassador in London. The show highlights the potential impact of fashion in shaping perceptions and cultivating soft power, Leigh Giangreco [writes](.   FP Live Subscriber Exclusive: Is America Making a Bad Bet on India?June 21, 2023 | 11 a.m. EDT | On-Demand For decades, the U.S. foreign-policy establishment has assumed that India could serve as a partner as the United States jostles with China for power in the Indo-Pacific region. But Ashley J. Tellis, a longtime watcher of U.S.-India relations, says Washington’s expectations of New Delhi are misplaced. Send in your questions for an in-depth discussion with Tellis ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the White House on Thursday. [Submit your questions here](. What AI Means for Global PowerJune 28, 2023 | 11 a.m. EDT Who will win the AI race? What does it mean for critical minerals and mining? How will it impact global trade, sanctions, and great-power competition? Join FP’s Ravi Agrawal in conversation with Paul Scharre, the author of Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, to discuss his lead essay in FP’s Summer 2023 print issue, “The Scramble for AI.” [Register here](.   Exercise Your Mind The lower house of Japan’s parliament passed a bill last Tuesday concerning the country’s LGBTQ+ population. What does the bill do? - Legalizes same-sex marriage - Guarantees equal rights under the constitution - Promotes understanding of LGBTQ+ issues - Makes homosexuality illegal You can find the answer to this question at the end of this email. [Click here]( to take the rest of our weekly news quiz.   Get the daily magazine for people interested in the world. [Subscribe today](. Most Popular on FP [Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks to Iranian Air Force commanders in Tehran, 08 February 2007. Khamanei vowed today the Islamic republic would hit back at US interests worldwide if attacked, amid mounting tension with the West over its nuclear programme. ]( [An Unwritten Deal Is Exactly What Iran and America Need]( An informal agreement is a poor substitute for an official one—but exactly what the circumstances call for. By Trita Parsi [OpenAI CEO Sam Altman leaves an event at Keio University in Tokyo, Japan, on June 12. ]( [OpenAI’s CEO Goes on a Diplomatic Charm Offensive]( Sam Altman’s global travels may be more opportunistic than altruistic. By Rishi Iyengar [Election officials start to count the ballots in Mali’s referendum in Bamako, Mali, on June 18.]( [Mali’s Uncertain Future]( Voters await postponed constitutional referendum results while the country’s junta kicks out the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission. By Alexandra Sharp [Abraham Ancer of Mexico looks on during Day Four of the PIF Saudi International at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club on February 05, 2023 in Al Murooj, Saudi Arabia. ]( [The International Relations of Saudi Arabia’s Golf Empire]( What the latest dealmaking in professional golf reveals about foreign policy. By Stephen M. Walt [U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, second from the left, attends a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, sitting at the head of the table, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on June 19.]( [China Isn’t Buying Biden’s Balancing Act]( Antony Blinken’s frosty reception demonstrates the limits of Washington’s China strategy. By Robbie Gramer, Christina Lu [An Unwritten Deal Is Exactly What Iran and America Need]( An informal agreement is a poor substitute for an official one—but exactly what the circumstances call for. By Trita Parsi [OpenAI’s CEO Goes on a Diplomatic Charm Offensive](Sam Altman’s global travels may be more opportunistic than altruistic. By Rishi Iyengar [Mali’s Uncertain Future](Voters await postponed constitutional referendum results while the country’s junta kicks out the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission. By Alexandra Sharp [The International Relations of Saudi Arabia’s Golf Empire](What the latest dealmaking in professional golf reveals about foreign policy. By Stephen M. Walt [China Isn’t Buying Biden’s Balancing Act](Antony Blinken’s frosty reception demonstrates the limits of Washington’s China strategy. By Robbie Gramer, Christina Lu   From Around FP - Ravi Reports: FP’s Ravi Agrawal [discussed]( U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s delayed visit to China on MSNBC. Plus, he was featured on India Today, where he [explained]( the significance of Modi’s visit to the United States. - The IRA (and the Fed) Debate: Is the Inflation Reduction Act a game-changing new industrial policy? Get FP columnist Adam Tooze’s take in the latest edition of [Chartbook](. - Tension Beyond the Strait: Join FP and the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies as we dive into the debate on U.S. economic pressure tactics against China, Europe’s intertwined interests, and the impact of French President Emmanuel Macron’s “sovereign Europe” stance on trans-Atlantic alliances. [Register here](. June 21, 2023 | Virtual Are you interested in learning more about FP Analytics’ cutting-edge research services, hosting an FP Virtual Dialogue event, or building a podcast with FP Studios? [Explore partnership opportunities](. Answer: 3.) Promotes understanding of LGBTQ+ issues. Asian countries are slowly beginning to make space for their LGBTQ+ citizens. Nepal is the latest to consider legalizing same-sex marriage, Bibek Bhandari [writes](. [Subscribe to Foreign Policy](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( You’re receiving this email at {EMAIL} because you signed up for the FP This Week newsletter. [MANAGE YOUR EMAIL PREFERENCES]( | [VIEW OUR PRIVACY POLICY]( | [UNSUBSCRIBE]( Reach the [right online audience]( with us. [Foreign Policy]( is a division of Graham Holdings Company. All contents © 2023 Graham Digital Holding Company LLC. All rights reserved. Foreign Policy, 655 15th St NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC, 20005.