Cybernetics and Comprehensive National Power: The Grand Strategy of China’s “National Rejuvenation”
Dr. Christopher Ford • May 29, 2025
In this article in Volume 1, Issue 3 of the Missouri State Univeristy's online journal Defense & Strategic Studies Online (pp. 1-89), Dr. Christopher Ford, John Schurtz, and Erik Quam offer a detailed analytical account of how cybernetic theories of social control developed by the scientist Qian Xuesen and his disciples were adopted by the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and are today critical to understanding the Party’s domestic governance and foreign relations.
You can see the whole issue on DASSO's website here, read the Ford/Schurtz/Quam article here, or use the button below to access a PDF of the article.
Christopher Ford, John Schurtz, & Erik Quam, “Cybernetics and Comprehensive National Power: The Grand Strategy of China’s ‘National Rejuvenation,’” Defense & Strategic Studies Online, vol. 1, no. 3 (Spring 2025), pp. 1-89.
Below is the prepared text upon which Dr. Ford based his remarks at an event at Hudson Institute on October 2, 2025, on the U.S. Institute of Peace Senior Study Group on Strategic Stability’s recent report on “ Sustaining the Nuclear Peace .”
Below is the prepared text upon which Dr. Ford based his remarks at a briefing for Congressional staffers on September 30, 2025, organized by the University of Pennsylvania’s Washington Cente r and the Wilson Center .
Below is the prepared text upon which Dr. Ford based his remarks to the “arms control boot camp” program for young national security professionals organized by the CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues in Washington, D.C., on September 30, 2025.
Below are the remarks upon which Dr. Ford based his opening remarks in a webinar on September 23, 2025, sponsored by the National Institute for Public Policy (NIPP).
Below are the remarks Dr. Ford delivered on September 22, 2025, at a conference in Singapore sponsored by the Pacific Forum.
Dr. Ford's essay on the history of Missouri State University's School of Defense and Strategic Studies was published in Defense & Strategic Studies Online (DASSO), vol. 2, no. 1 (Autumn 2025). You can find the whole issue on the DASSO website here , or use the button below to download a PDF of Dr. Ford's piece . (Also, the home page for DASSO can be found here .)
On September 17, 2025, the website Fair Observer published Dr. Ford's essay looking back on the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and musing about the challenges facing America's political culture today. You can find the essay on Fair Observer 's webpage here , or use the button below to download a PDF.
Dr. Ford's article on "Thinking About Strategy in an Artificial Superintelligence Arms Race" -- co-authored with Dr. Craig Wiener -- was published in Defense & Strategic Studies Online (DASSO), vol. 1, no. 4 (Summer 2025). You can find the whole issue on the DASSO website here , or use the button below to download a PDF of the Ford/Wiener article. (Also, the home page for DASSO can be found here .)
Below are the remarks Dr. Ford delivered to a webinar sponsored by the National Institute for Deterrence Studies on August 29, 2025.
Over much of last year, Dr. Ford participated in the Senior Study Group (SSG) on Strategic Stability at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP). Ably chaired by Brad Roberts of the Center for Global Security Research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Rebeccah Heinrichs of Hudson Institute, the SSG completed its report in February 2025, only to immediately run into publication problems as a result of the government's effort to shut down the USIP. The litigation associated with that effort remains ongoing, but the SSG is pleased to be able now to publish its report. The report is not available on the USIP website, but you can use the button below to download a PDF.