Introduction
As geopolitical tensions rise, the competition for cutting-edge science and the talent that supports advanced technology intensifies. The United States, China, and other major powers view leadership in areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum technologies, and biotechnology as crucial for military capability, economic security, and ideological influence.
Government Investments in Strategic Technologies
Governments are investing in strategic technologies, strengthening export and investment controls, and imposing new security requirements on international scientific collaboration. Research institutions are increasingly treated as frontline national security assets. The logic of great power rivalry is reshaping, and often limiting, academic transnational relationships and scientist mobility.
A New Cold War?
Some have dubbed the current tech race a “new Cold War,” drawing parallels with the US-Soviet Union space race during the Cold War. Ironically, the US is not following its successful Cold War strategy but is instead playing catch-up with China.
US Cold War Strategy: A Proactive Approach
During the Cold War, the US used export controls and alliance coordination to keep advanced weapons, nuclear materials, and dual-use technologies out of the Soviet bloc. However, its overall science approach from the 1960s to the 1980s was more progressive and proactive than defensive.
The US government invested heavily in basic scientific research, which policymakers considered key to long-term superiority over the USSR. This was achieved by expanding university research grants through organizations like the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, establishing new national laboratories, and creating the Advanced Research Projects Agency (later renamed the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) to support high-risk, high-reward projects in computing, materials science, and communications.
Boosting STEM Talent
While the space race drove funding for physics, engineering, and mathematics, programs like the GI Bill (enacted during WWII to pay for veterans’ university tuition) and increased federal student aid significantly boosted the supply of scientists and engineers.
The US also actively sought foreign talent during the Cold War, combining generous research opportunities with relatively open and often strategically-oriented immigration policies. US universities, national labs, and government agencies attracted scientists worldwide. Some, like those leaving Eastern European communist regimes, were deliberately recruited and sometimes granted expedited security clearances. Over time, student visas, Fulbright scholarships, and preferential immigration policies for highly skilled professionals expanded and routinized this influx.
The message was clear: if you were a talented scientist, the best place to develop your career and start a family was the US. But this is no longer a given.
The Trump Administration’s Impact
The Trump administration’s efforts to cut federal funding and isolate the US from the global research community contrast sharply with the proactive Cold War strategy of boosting science support and welcoming foreign talent.
The administration’s second measure to reduce government grants for research accelerates the decline in federal funding for basic science that began in the 1980s. Since the end of the Cold War, global investment in research and development has increasingly come from for-profit companies. Simultaneously, recent visa restrictions and anti-immigrant rhetoric have made the US feel less welcoming to many international students and foreign-born STEM professionals, who constitute roughly a fifth of the US STEM workforce and over 40% of its doctorate-level scientists and engineers.
Cutting basic science investment and discouraging foreign talent risks undermining the foundations of US scientific leadership.
China’s Emerging Strategy
Meanwhile, China is increasingly adopting a strategy similar to the US during the Cold War. Yes, the Chinese government restricts technology and data exports, but it has also significantly increased investment in basic science and implemented measures to attract foreign and domestic talent in key sectors like AI, semiconductors, and biotechnology. Notably, China recently introduced a new Type K visa, targeting young STEM and tech workers who wish to study or do business in the country, marketed as an approximate equivalent to the US H-1B visa.
US Insecurity vs. Chinese Boldness
The contrast between China’s audacity and US insecurity is striking. In the past decade, US policy has primarily focused on protecting the country from China, Russia, and other rivals through economic sanctions, export controls, and stricter immigration restrictions. However, a more effective long-term strategy would be to expand scientific research investment, welcome foreign STEM talent, and intensify efforts to retain them.
Key Questions and Answers
- What is the current global scientific competition about? The competition revolves around cutting-edge science and the talent that supports advanced technology, with areas like artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum technologies, and biotechnology being crucial for military capability, economic security, and ideological influence.
- How did the US approach science during the Cold War? The US adopted a proactive and progressive approach to science, investing heavily in basic scientific research, expanding university grants, establishing new national laboratories, and supporting high-risk, high-reward projects.
- What impact did the US have on foreign STEM talent during the Cold War? The US actively sought and welcomed foreign STEM talent through generous research opportunities, relatively open immigration policies, and strategic recruitment of scientists from Eastern European communist regimes.
- How has the Trump administration affected US scientific leadership? The administration’s funding cuts and isolationist policies risk undermining the foundations of US scientific leadership by discouraging foreign talent and reducing investment in basic science.
- What strategy is China adopting in the current scientific competition? China is increasingly investing in basic science and implementing measures to attract both foreign and domestic talent in key sectors, including introducing a new Type K visa for young STEM and tech workers.
- What should the US do to maintain its scientific edge? The US should expand scientific research investment, welcome foreign STEM talent, and intensify efforts to retain them, as a more effective long-term strategy than current isolationist policies.
The Author
Nancy Qian, a professor at Northwestern University, is co-director of the Global Poverty Research Lab at Northwestern University, founding director of the China EconLab, and visiting scholar at the Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance.
