Global competition has dominated foreign policy conversations for the past ten years, pushing topics like investment in American manufacturing, reliable supply chains, and protection of domestic technology advantage to the top of the priority list. Sadly, far less attention has been paid to the human capital that surrounds those top priorities — the leaders, the talent, and the relationships that will determine whether those investments actually stick.

For the United States to succeed in the next 50 years the way we’ve succeeded in the last 50, we will need a strong “supply chain” of leaders, institutions, and workforce systems who embrace American values, train in American methods, and connect to American networks.