The Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation at Stanford

The Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation at Stanford

penitus cogitare, cito agere – think deeply, act quickly

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75 years ago, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) helped kickstart innovation in Silicon Valley with a series of grants to Fred Terman, Dean of Stanford's Engineering school. Terman used the money to set up the Stanford Electronics Research Lab. He staffed it with his lab managers who built the first electronic warfare and electronic intelligence systems in WWII. This lab pushed the envelope of vital and applied research in microwave devices and electronics and within a few short years made Stanford a leader in these fields. The lab became ground zero for the wave of Stanford's entrepreneurship and innovation in the 1950's and 60's and helped form what would later be tabbed Silicon Valley.

75 years later, ONR just laid lanugo a bet again, one we believe will be equally transformative. They're the first sponsors of the new Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation at Stanford that Joe Felter, Raj Shah, and I have started.


Gordian What?

A Gordian Knot is a metaphor for an intractable problem. Today, the United States is facing several seemingly intractable national security problems simultaneously.

We intend to help solve them in Stanford's Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation. Our motto of penitus cogitare, cito agere, think deeply, act quickly, embraces our unique intersection of deep problem understanding, combined with rapid solutions. The Center combines six unique strengths of Stanford and its location in Silicon Valley.

  1. The insights and expertise of Stanford international and national security policy leaders
  2. The technology insights and expertise of Stanford Engineering
  3. Exceptional students willing to help the country win the Great Power Competition
  4. Silicon Valley's deep technology ecosystem
  5. Our wits in rapid problem understanding, rapid iteration and deployment of solutions with speed and urgency
  6. Access to risk wanted at scale

Our focus will match our motto. We're going to coordinate resources at Stanford and peer universities, and wideness Silicon Valley's innovation ecosystem to:

  • Scale national security innovation education
  • Train national security innovators
  • Offer insight, integration, and policy outreach
  • Provide a continual output of minimal viable products that can act as catalysts for solutions to the toughest problems

Why Now? Why Us?

Over the last decade we've created a series of classes in entrepreneurship, rapid innovation, and national security: Lean LaunchPad; National Science Foundation I-Corps; Hacking for Defense; Hacking for Diplomacy; Technology, Innovation and Modern War last year; and this year Technology, Innovation and Great Power Competition. These classes have been widely adopted, wideness the U.S. and globally.

Simultaneously, each of us was urgently engaged in helping variegated branches of the government understand, react, and unhook solutions in a rapidly waffly and challenging environment. It's wilt well-spoken to us that for the first time in three decades, the U.S. is now engaged in a Great Power Competition. And we're behind. Our national power (our influence and footprint on the world stage) is stuff challenged and powerfully negated by autocratic regimes like China and Russia.

GKC joins a select group of national security think tanks

At Stanford, the Gordian Knot Center will sit in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies run by Mike McFaul, ex producer to Russia. And Mike has graciously well-set to be our Principal Investigator withal with Riitta Katila in the Management Science and Engineering Department (MS&E) in the Engineering School. MS&E is where disruptive technology meets national security, and has a long history of sunny contributions from Bill Perry, Sig Hecker and Elisabeth Pate-Cornell and others. (Stanford's other policy institute is the Hoover Institution, run by Condoleezza Rice, ex secretary of state). All are world-class leaders in understanding international problems, policies, and institutions. Other U.S. foreign wires and national security think tanks include:

We intend to focus the new Center on solving problems wideness the spectrum of activities that create and sustain national power. National power is the combination of a country's affairs (soft power and alliances), information, military and economic strength as well as its finance, intelligence, and law enforcement – or DIME-FIL. Our projects will be those at the intersection of DIME-FIL with the onslaught of commercial technologies (AI, machine learning, autonomy, biotech, cyber, semiconductors, commercial wangle to space, et al.). And we're going to hit the ground running by moving our two national security classes — Hacking for Defense, and Technology Innovation and Great Power Competition (which this year is now a required undertow in the International Policy program) — into the Center.

We hope our unique charter, "think deeply, act quickly" can complement the no-go work these other institutions provide.

The Office of Naval Research (ONR)

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has been planning, fostering, and encouraging scientific research-and reimagining naval power-since 1946. The grants it made to Stanford that year were the first to any university.

Today, the Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps is looking to find ways to slide technology minutiae and wordage to our naval forces. There is wholesale consensus that the current pace of technology minutiae and adoption is unsatisfactory, and that without significant reform, we will lose the competition with China in the South China Sea for maritime superiority.

Rear Admiral Selby, Chief of Naval Research, has recognized that it's no longer "business as usual." That ONR delivering sustaining innovations for the existing squadron and marine forces is no longer good unbearable to deter war or alimony us in the fight. And that ONR once then needs to lead with disruptive technologies, new operational concepts, new types of program management and mindsets. He's on a mission to provide the Navy and U.S. Marine Corps with just that. When we approached him well-nigh the idea of the Gordian Knot Center he reminded us, that not only did ONR sponsor Stanford in 1946, they've been sponsoring our Hacking for Defense matriculation since 2016! Now they've wilt our lease sponsor for the Gordian Knot Center.

We hope to earn it - for him, ONR, and the country.

Steve, Joe and Raj

Lessons Learned

The Center combines six unique strengths of Stanford and its location in Silicon Valley

  • The insights and expertise of Stanford international and national security policy leaders
  • The technology insights and expertise of Stanford Engineering
  • Exceptional students willing to help the country win the Great Power Competition
  • Silicon Valley's deep technology ecosystem
  • Our wits in rapid problem understanding, rapid iteration and deployment of solutions with speed and urgency
  • Access to risk wanted at scale

Our focus will match our motto. We're going to coordinate resources at Stanford and peer universities and wideness Silicon Valley's innovation ecosystem to:

  • Scale national security innovation education
  • Train national security innovators
  • Offer insight, integration, and policy outreach
  • Provide a continual output of minimal viable products that can act as catalysts for solutions to the toughest problems