heelinhell
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We have already ceded our influential soft power to China when it comes to geopolitics.How Trump’s crackdown on universities is affecting the world
How Trump’s crackdown on Harvard and other universities is affecting the world
Mr. Trump’s ideological war on universities is putting students, professors and scientists under pressure. That could undermine the global dominance that American science has enjoyed for decades.www.nytimes.com
“… In the mid-20th century, America was seen by many as a benign power, committed to scientific freedom and democracy. It attracted the best brains fleeing fascism and authoritarianism in Europe.
Today, the biggest beneficiary could be China and Chinese universities, which have been trying to recruit world-class scientific talent for years. Now Mr. Trump is doing their work for them. One indication of the success of China’s campaign to attract the best and brightest is Africa, the world’s youngest continent. Africans are learning Mandarin in growing numbers. Nearly twice as many study in China as in America.
Could America gamble away its scientific supremacy in the service of ideology? It has happened before.
Under the Nazis, Germany lost its scientific edge to America in the space of a few years. As a German, my brain may wander too readily to the lessons of the 1930s, but in this case the analogy feels instructive. Several of my colleagues covering the fallout from the crackdown on international students and researchers pointed to Hitler’s silencing of scientists and intellectuals.
No one region can currently replicate the magic sauce of resources, freedom, a culture of risk-taking and welcoming immigrants that made America the engine of scientific innovation. But if it tumbles as a scientific superpower, and potential breakthroughs are disrupted, it would be a setback for the whole world. …”
We have already alienated our allies with stupid tariff threats.
We are in the process of creating a soon to be "brain drain" and ceding our scientific superpower status to China
We are on a path to aid China as it seeks to replace America as the dominant global superpower.