91ΒιΆΉΜμΓΐ leads national discussion on agriculture as an instrument of diplomacy
Contact: Mary Kathryn Kight
STARKVILLE, Miss.βFood and water. These basic human necessities were at the forefront of conversation led by 91ΒιΆΉΜμΓΐ University and Arizona State University in Washington, D.C. this month at the conference βThe Intersection of Agriculture and Competitive Statecraft.βΜύ
Home to the Competitive Statecraft Initiative, ASU invited 91ΒιΆΉΜμΓΐ to co-host the conference, the third in a series of discussions held on the topic. Competitive statecraft is the integration and synchronization of all instruments of national power.
βWe found a willing partner in 91ΒιΆΉΜμΓΐβobviously a school that has a lot of interest and expertise in agriculture and agriculture policy,β said Ryan Shaw, managing director of strategic initiatives and senior advisor to the president at ASU. βGeopolitics and national security strategy can get very abstract, but people have to eat and need water to drink, and that is a fundamental driver of all of our national security and competitive statecraft efforts.β
U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker kicked off the event and commended 91ΒιΆΉΜμΓΐ for working with multiple groups to discuss ways to use agriculture as an instrument of peace.
βTo the extent that the people, countries and governments in this world prefer to stay away from conflict, are involved in efforts to make sure thereβs not worldwide hunger, then weβre more likely to have a peaceful world. And, in the end, mankind will be better, but weβll save tremendous sums of money that right now are being used in armed conflict,β said Wicker.
The conference united private industries, academia and government agencies to discuss how agriculture impacts national security.
Panelist and keynote speaker Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Russell Howard, who currently serves as a senior fellow at the Joint Special Operations University in Tampa, Florida, discussed the China Belt and Road Initiative.
βThe Belt and Road Initiative may be good for Chinese national security policy and foreign policy, but itβs not necessarily good for the countries that itβs building assets in, and itβs certainly not good for U.S. national security interests in many respects,β Howard said.
Dan Gustafson, special representative of the Director-General at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, discussed why agriculture is part of the competitive statecraft discussion. Robert D. Kaplan, bestselling author of 22 books on foreign affairs and travel, delivered the keynote address on geopolitics and the natural environment. Other topics included βThe Role of Technology to Further Agricultural Competitive Statecraftβ and βWater: Threat to Stability.β
USDA Chief Economist Seth Meyer, who served as a panelist on βForging Agricultural and Food Linkages between Countries,β noted the importance of 91ΒιΆΉΜμΓΐ being involved in the discussion.Μύ
βI think it is great to have really strong agricultural schools that understand agriculture in these conversations with folks in state departments and defense departments and really bring home that message that Iβve said 10 times alreadyβfood is different,β Meyers said.
It may not look like a weapon, but the ripple effect of food insecurity can cripple communities and devastate economies, he explained.Μύ
βAs the U.S. tries to engage with other countries, we find agriculture is almost always a very important issue to that country, whether itβs feeding their people or trying to expand their agricultural footprint,β said Keith Coble, 91ΒιΆΉΜμΓΐ vice president of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine. βAt the end of the day, the ability to eat healthy, sanitary food and to be able to afford food are fundamental issues in the United States and the rest of the world.β
91ΒιΆΉΜμΓΐ University is taking care of what matters. Learn more at .
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