SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you very much. First of all, I am so glad that you were able to go to the outdoor class today and I am very happy to be a part of it. We are here, in part, to ask you to consider the possibility of public service and the possibility of working for the State Department. And I know this might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you’re thinking about what to do when you’re at Stanford or sometime later in your career, but I’d like to take a moment to (inaudible) suggest why now would actually be an extraordinary time to think about not just to (inaudible) public service, but actually coming to the State Department and working on what America is doing in the world.
We talked about it, and some of you may have been there with Condoleezza Rice just a while ago, and some of your classmates. In many ways, this is a turning point, a turning point, because the world that existed after the end of the Cold War—the post-Cold War world—has really ended. And there’s intense competition to shape what’s actually coming, and much of that competition is driven by technology.
Technology is at the heart of reshaping our economy for the future. It’s at the heart—in some cases—of reforming our military to make them more efficient and purposeful. It is at the heart of transforming life in our country and around the world. But perhaps most importantly, it is at the heart of a positive vision that I believe meets the needs of people not only in our country, but around the world.
The things that so many of you are thinking about, working on, exploring—how to make sure we can use technology to treat disease and build a stronger global health system after COVID-19; how do we think about ensuring that people can feed themselves sustainably at a time when there is a severe food shortage around the world? how we deal with climate change so that we have a planet that can feed itself, but does so in a way that does not depend on fossil fuels; how to think about supply chains to ensure that the things people need in their daily lives are not disrupted by supply chain disruptions; how we think about good jobs for the future – at the heart of all this answer lies technology, innovation and entrepreneurship. And that’s all it can be – resonating powerfully around the world. And if we get it right, it directly affects how the rest of the world sees us. I feel it every day in my work.
So in our own State Department—and I want to address this in a few minutes—a lot of these problems haven’t necessarily been in what we do or what we do. People think about the Foreign Office, they think about diplomacy, they think about war and peace, and trying to make peace where there is war, trying to prevent conflict.
But we know that the big issues that really affect people’s lives — whether it’s climate, whether it’s COVID, whether it’s the impact of new technologies — they all need to be front and center in what we do, because no solution to any of these issues that doesn’t include cooperation, cooperation, coordination in some way or another with countries around the world, with companies around the world, with innovators around the world. And that’s where the State Department comes in. This is where diplomacy comes in – trying to make progress, to facilitate that cooperation and coordination.
We talked about this before: we are trying to solve the climate crisis. Even if we do everything right at home, if we account for 15 percent of global emissions and don’t address the other 85 percent, we’re not solving the problem. Diplomacy plays a big part in this. As we deal with COVID and try to ensure we don’t have another pandemic, building a stronger global health system that is only as strong as the weakest link in the chain is necessary. And again, even if we’re fine at home, if there’s another outbreak and there’s an option that changes what we do at home, we can’t do it.
And all these technologies that many of you are actually researching, working, helping to develop, how to get used to them—the rules, the standards, the norms by which they’re used, decided not necessarily in the United States, but maybe in some windowless conference room around the world—that decides whether technology is used for good or less good, whether privacy, security, human rights and values, as well as our competitiveness, are respected.
And again, that’s what diplomats do. We have a new office in our cyber and digital policy department to ensure we are organized in a way that allows us to really address these issues. And a big part of making that work, as well as the new office we’re leading to deal with emerging technologies – everything from artificial intelligence to quantum technology to biotechnology – is that we have a leading role in making sure that the United States is well represented around the world.
And that’s where you all come in. The very things that you are interested in, that you are passionate about, that you are working on, that you are studying, is actually a way to deal with them. The Foreign Office and maybe spending a bit of time in the public sector, in the civil service and doing something that over 30 years I have found that has given my life enormous meaning and that is going to work. every day with an American flag behind his back, either literally or figuratively. And for some of you, it might be an attractive proposition, even if it’s only for a short time.
We find new ways to bring those steeped in STEM into our department, and we can talk a little bit about that. But I really wanted to encourage you to actually consider it, think about it as a possibility, whether it’s in a few years; be it in 10 or 15 years. But we need you: we need talent, we need insight, and especially we need a new generation of people to look at these problems that are incredibly daunting but have solutions, and increasingly, they have solutions that you. search and develop again.
With that, Nate, do you want to say a few words about what we do?
REPRESENTATIVE FICK: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. And thanks everyone for being here. It’s — it’s a real treat for me to be back in Silicon Valley. As the dean mentioned, I started a company here and was a managing partner at a venture capital firm here for 10 years. I spent many mornings running around The Dish worrying about fundraising and (inaudible) feature, losing a client or hiring a key person. And so it’s great to be back here.
I’m now a few weeks into this new office at the State Department, and I’ll tell you that there’s one big commonality between what I’m doing now and what I did before — building a technology business. Both the office and our company were what I would call elevator pitch organizations. At the end of the day, we had a few computers, a few chairs, but basically all of our possessions went down the elevator at night and went home. That’s all we had. Human capital, people, that’s all we had.
So the main challenge in building these organizations (any organizations) is finding the right people to join the team. The secretary mentioned getting into his conference rooms and setting standards, which is the unsexy job of getting the ball down the court. My first week on the job went exactly like this. I took the oath of office on Thursday to get my passport on Friday to go to Romania on Saturday to spend most of the week meeting with delegations around the world to convince them to vote for the American candidate. Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union, a standards-setting body that has existed since 1865. It was established to ensure that European telegraphs could communicate with American telegraphs and Asian telegraphs. And this stuff is really important. We may not think about it every day, but it’s really important.
And I got on the phone with my wife at the end of the first day and she said, “So how are you?” And I said, “Well, the people are tremendous. The people are just incredible, and the sense of purpose is incredible. So I think that — we need American companies to build and scale technology around the world based on our values. And we need American diplomatic leadership on those on topics such as setting standards and norms for technology that align with our values.
So I think our appeal to you is something like this: If you — if at least a few years of production in this place, if you really believe that the innovation economy is the source of our attractiveness and economic health and national security. people, if you believe it; and if you believe in the intrinsic value of diplomacy, if you believe that talking about our differences is the most effective way to overcome or resolve them; and if you believe that technology is the next frontier in diplomacy, just as it is the next frontier in every aspect of our lives – if you believed these things, then we have a place for you. And I can say this with conviction, because there was a place for me.
I did not see myself five, seven or ten years ago in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But I will tell you, now that I have spent some time in this great organization, it reminds me of the recruiting slogan the Marines used in the 90’s when I graduated from college and joined the Marine Corps. They said, “We never promised you a rose garden.” The same applies to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. When you get out of Stanford, you can do things where you make more money and maybe work easier. But I would challenge you to find something that will serve you the same purpose.
The secretary has talked about me standing a little taller and walking behind the desk with my American flag and coming through the turnstile every morning with a big grin. And whether it’s four years into your career or 40 years into your career, please consider giving some of your time and energy to public service, because we need you.
