The Role of Private Multinational Corporations in Strategic Competition: A Comparative Analysis of Economic and Informational Contingencies

Abstract

In today’s globalized society many activities that effect national security occur outside of the traditional realms of diplomacy, military, and trade. Outside of these realms democratic state governments have fewer response options when adversaries who are less constrained by the rule of law and free markets engage in aggressive actions. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) utilizes its extensive authoritarian control over Chinese enterprise to advance its foreign policy and intelligence gathering goals, and a US government approach alone cannot counter the threat to national security that these activities pose. Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) activities overseas are enabled by Chinese state funding and represent an integral part of the CCP’s geopolitical strategic vision. This poses a unique threat to western democracies, as the kind of “grey” influence Chinese SOEs enable is difficult to see and even more difficult to counter. An in-depth analysis of how western multinational corporations (MNCs) can benefit US national security strategy in the economic and information environments will enable a more coherent doctrine for using private response options instead of government ones. Specifically, this thesis will examine the question “can MNCs actively contribute to national security operations to counter Chinese coercion in a way that augments capability gaps in the public sector?” Based on empirical research this thesis will seek to show that in today’s global environment where the private multinational corporations are increasingly intertwined with state security apparatuses, MNC’s placement, access, and capabilities uniquely suit them to benefit state national security operations in the economic and information environments.