Mission Imperative

Silverado officially launched in February 2021, but the policy challenges that we seek to address have their roots in the historical circumstances that have unfolded over the past half century. At the dawn of the 21st century, the U.S. is embroiled in a new contest for global leadership with its strategic competitors. In particular, China’s quest for global supremacy has sparked a high-stakes competition for economic, technological, and strategic advantages that touches every element of public policy, from international trade to domestic manufacturing policy to cybersecurity policy. Competition between global powers is not new, of course, but in an era of unprecedented global interconnectedness and technological advancement, it creates new challenges for the United States and its allies.

What historical conditions gave rise to these challenges, and what can their past teach us about the future prospects for their resolution? Below is a timeline of seminal events in the history of Silverado’s areas of focus: national security, cybersecurity and AI, trade and industrial security, and energy and resource security. The histories of these policy areas demonstrate that the major economic and strategic challenges that the U.S. faces today cannot be addressed in isolation. Forging a new path towards American prosperity and global competitiveness requires looking backwards as well as forwards.