Tools and Weapons: The Promise and The Peril of the Digital Age

by Brad Smith

From an international economic perspective, it’s worth remembering that, for the companies involved, this protection of home markets is a blessing that has its share of curses. Even for China, with its 1.4 billion people, more than 80 percent of the world’s consumers live and work somewhere else. The only way to succeed globally as a technology leader is to be respected globally. Both American and Chinese technology companies share a need to win over customers outside their borders when they’re seeking to grow in Europe, Latin America, or across the rest of Asia or elsewhere around the world. If the US and Chinese governments each allege that the other country’s homegrown technology can’t be trusted, there’s a risk that the rest of the world will conclude that both are right and turn toward other sources.