Contact: Mary Kathryn Kight

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Food and water. These basic human necessities were at the forefront of conversation led by Mississippi State University and Arizona State University in Washington, D.C. this month at the conference “The Intersection of Agriculture and Competitive Statecraft.” 

Home to the Competitive Statecraft Initiative, ASU invited MSU to co-host the conference, the third in a series of discussions held on the topic. Competitive statecraft is the integration and synchronization of all instruments of national power.

“We found a willing partner in Mississippi State—obviously a school that has a lot of interest and expertise in agriculture and agriculture policy,” said Ryan Shaw, managing director of strategic initiatives and senior advisor to the president at ASU. “Geopolitics and national security strategy can get very abstract, but people have to eat and need water to drink, and that is a fundamental driver of all of our national security and competitive statecraft efforts.”

U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker kicked off the event and commended Mississippi State for working with multiple groups to discuss ways to use agriculture as an instrument of peace.

“To the extent that the people, countries and governments in this world prefer to stay away from conflict, are involved in efforts to make sure there’s not worldwide hunger, then we’re more likely to have a peaceful world. And, in the end, mankind will be better, but we’ll save tremendous sums of money that right now are being used in armed conflict,” said Wicker.

The conference united private industries, academia and government agencies to discuss how agriculture impacts national security.

Panelist and keynote speaker Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Russell Howard, who currently serves as a senior fellow at the Joint Special Operations University in Tampa, Florida, discussed the China Belt and Road Initiative.

“The Belt and Road Initiative may be good for Chinese national security policy and foreign policy, but it’s not necessarily good for the countries that it’s building assets in, and it’s certainly not good for U.S. national security interests in many respects,” Howard said.

Dan Gustafson, special representative of the Director-General at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, discussed why agriculture is part of the competitive statecraft discussion. Robert D. Kaplan, bestselling author of 22 books on foreign affairs and travel, delivered the keynote address on geopolitics and the natural environment. Other topics included “The Role of Technology to Further Agricultural Competitive Statecraft” and “Water: Threat to Stability.”

USDA Chief Economist Seth Meyer, who served as a panelist on “Forging Agricultural and Food Linkages between Countries,” noted the importance of MSU being involved in the discussion. 

“I think it is great to have really strong agricultural schools that understand agriculture in these conversations with folks in state departments and defense departments and really bring home that message that I’ve said 10 times already—food is different,” Meyers said.

It may not look like a weapon, but the ripple effect of food insecurity can cripple communities and devastate economies, he explained. 

“As the U.S. tries to engage with other countries, we find agriculture is almost always a very important issue to that country, whether it’s feeding their people or trying to expand their agricultural footprint,” said Keith Coble, MSU vice president of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine. “At the end of the day, the ability to eat healthy, sanitary food and to be able to afford food are fundamental issues in the United States and the rest of the world.”

Mississippi State University is taking care of what matters. Learn more at www.msstate.edu.