talbotlucas.org: a word to the wise is sufficient

Terrence and I attended the University of Chicago Harper Lecture here on Saturday. Speaking on the future of U.S.-China relations was John Mearsheimer, noted political science professor and commentator in international relations. His hypothesis is that, if one accepts some pretty basic principles of international relations and state behavior, the U.S. and China are headed for conflict in a few decades, particularly if China's population continues to grow at the anticipated rates and if China adopts capitalist principles, turning it into a mega-Hong Kong which threatens U.S. hegemony. I hestitate to try to recapture his arguments for fear of leaving out key details, but his analysis was quite compelling, including its application to the present situation with North Korea. Mearsheimer set forth equally compelling arguments that the current administration's reasoning for pursuing a military solution in Iraq is hollow at best, and that most Americans' view of the United States as the defender of human rights around the world is pretty baseless when you look at the context of our efforts (military and diplomatic) over the last two centuries.

Mearsheimer spoke at length of the Bush administration's stated intention of eliminating peer competitors on the international scene and opined that, by encouraging (even fueling) China's economic growth, we are sowing the seeds for future conflict.

Lots of thoughts crossed my mind during the lecture, which presented a lot to digest on a Saturday afternoon. But the one which kept popping up was this: why aren't Microsoft's source code shenanigans getting more coverage?

Turns out I'm not the only one pondering the second point: a Friday post on LawMeme raises the same question, specifically:

NZheretic writes "In May, under oath at the antitrust hearing Jim Allchin, group vice president for platforms at Microsoft, stated that disclosing the Windows operating system source code could damage national security and even threaten the U.S. war effort. Now in February, Microsoft signed a pact with Chinese officials to reveal the Windows operating system source code. Bill Gates even hinted that China will be privy to all, not just part, of the source code its government wished to inspect. Either Jim Allchin lied under oath, to prevent code revelation being any part of the settlement, OR the Microsoft corporation is behaving traitorously, by exposing national security issues to foreign governments."

(See the original LawMeme post for additional links.)

Keeping in mind my father's advice to read between the lines...what's going on here? Does Microsoft's double standard really mean anything for national security? Maybe not. But if it does, what role does the U.S. government take?

Perhaps I'll have to ask Prof Mearsheimer how private actors who operate on a global scale (such as Microsoft) impact his U.S.-China calculus. I'll report back if he responds. Or if my own thoughts become any clearer.