Monthly Archives: March 2021

Jessica Cejnar / Friday, March 19 @ 4:31 p.m. / Business, COVID-19, Community Crescent City Contracts With Brand Strategist to Leverage Resources For Local Businesses, Nonprofits

People stroll along Crescent City's B Street Pier. On Monday, the city contracted with a brand strategist to further economic development locally. LoCO File photo: Andrew Goff

Previously:

Crescent City Introduces and Is Already Chipping Away At An Economic Development Plan

While Awaiting Federal Assistance, Local Task Force Offers No-Interest Business Loans to Del Norte's Smallest Businesses

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Nearly a year after Crescent City and the Del Norte Office of Emergency Services created the Economic Resiliency Task Force to help businesses weather the COVID-19 pandemic, the city is thinking long-term resiliency.

Councilors on Monday unanimously approved a $104,992 contract with Berry Strategy LLC. Using $100,000 in grant dollars from the California Endowment and a $5,000 donation from the Humboldt Area Foundation, the goal is to take advantage of state and federal resources that facilitate economic recovery for local businesses, nonprofits and residents.

The grant calls for this work to build capacity and the capacity to take on other available funding and put it to the highest possible work for the community, said Rick Bolton, a Berry Strategy consultant, who specializes in business and brand strategy. The first step is the attraction part, developing a brand identity, using language deliberately and then as an extension, a communications strategy thats clear and compelling to draw those dollars out and create something thats so appealing Im talking about making sure the core purpose and core meaning and core assets of the community are really showing through.

Bolton said that strategy could revolve around the recreational opportunities in Del Norte County or its natural resources.

By putting a sharp point on whatever the scenario whatever the platform we land on we not only attract new money, but we also are most of the way to prescribing where the dollars should go in order to be on strategy, he said.

Created early in the pandemic, the Economic Resiliency Task Force initially gauged the level of injury businesses went through as a result of shut downs and public health orders and provided $5,000 no-interest loans.

The task force also held weekly webinars to connect business owners to state and federal federal resources through the North Coast Small Business Development Corporation and the Small Business Administration.

The contract with Berry Strategy also comes after the city introduced the community to its Economic Development Strategic Action Plan an cookbook with 86 recipes that include revamping Front Street and Beachfront Park and other areas of economic growth.

As part of his contract, Bolton will work with PlanWest Partners, which completed the Economic Development Strategic Action Plan, said City Manager Eric Wier.

According to Wier, in addition to working with companies like Kaiser Permanente, Bolton is also working with Crescent City-based Rumiano Cheese on sales and marketing strategies.

He does have an understanding of the community and will take that forward as we start moving forward on a new endeavor of being more innovative, Wier said.

On Monday, Crescent Citys recreation director, Holly Wendt, who helped create the Economic Resiliency Task Force, noted that though the pandemic brought a lot of trauma and stress to business owners, there was also opportunity. She referenced the Tolowa name for the area as a place of plenty.

Rebranding Crescent City isnt just for tourists, Wendt said, but for the community itself.

We have everything we need to be a beautiful and wonderful place, Wendt said. We have nature. We have hard-working humans. We have a rich culture that goes back for generations, wonderful tribal communities and an opportunity to redefine who we are together from a place of strength.

Under its contract with the city, Berry Strategy will also attempt to reach out with Del Norte Countys black and indigenous community, particularly business owners and non-profit leaders, according to the citys staff report.

This will include holding at least three learning sessions and create a place to share resources and communicate with each other via the Del Norte Economic Resiliency Task Force website.

The project is expected to be completed in December, according to the staff report.

During the Councils discussion, Crescent City Mayor Jason Greenough summed up the projects goal.

The way I took this is we as a community need to come together and find out who we are as a community, he said. That way we can move forward together and find common ground and find common goals and then implement those into projects and figure out how we can work together to better our community.

Mayor Pro Tem Blake Inscore compared Crescent Citys efforts to rebrand itself to Leavenworth, Washingtons transition from a resource-based economy to one reliant on tourism.

Inscore noted that in the late 1800s, Leavenworths economy was dominated by the fur trade, gold, timber and the Great Northern Railway. But by the 1930s, the railroad had been rerouted and the city was on life support, Inscore said.

After 30 years of trying to make do and looking at empty storefronts, the community leaders said, We got to think outside the box and do something new, he said. It was almost unheard of and Im sure there were people who thought these people were crazy, but the reinvented themselves as a Bavarian village. Today, they average around 2 million visitors a year.

That decision, Inscore said, is no different to the changes Crescent City and Del Norte County are needing to make to survive.

That change may require radical thinking on our part, he said. We want our community to not just survive, we want our community to thrive and be something that is a product of dreams, not just a product of trying to make do.

Original post:

Crescent City Contracts With Brand Strategist to Leverage Resources For Local Businesses, Nonprofits - Lost Coast Outpost

Lets work to replace oil-based products with plant-based ones

March 18 was Global Recycling Day, a day dedicated to recognizing the role recycling plays in promoting a more circular economy that reduces our reliance on finite natural resources. As we celebrate the benefits of recycling, we should also consider other steps that can be taken to securing our planets future, including the use of more renewable plant-based materials.

Many of the products we use every day, from packaging to plastic car parts to yoga pants, are often made from petroleum, a finite resource that comes from the extraction of carbon embedded deep in the Earth. While recycling can play a role in helping to extend the life of some of these materials, some may still end up as pollution, and some may end up as new carbon dioxide in the atmosphere if recycling is no longer an option. As an alternative, many of these products can be made from renewable, plant-based materials, like hemp, corn, soy, algae, and agricultural waste. These plants actually take carbon out of the atmosphere as they grow. Further, like their petroleum-based counterparts, many plant-based products are recyclable or commercially compostable. These factors combine to help drive a circular economy one where sustainable products are in use longer, waste is reduced and fewer finite resources are utilized.

The Plant Based Products Council works every day to support the transition to a circular economy that includes adoption of more renewable materials. Global Recycling Day reminds us to keep advocating for solutions that help ensure a more sustainable future.

Executive Director, Plant Based Products Council

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Let's work to replace oil-based products with plant-based ones - Logan Daily News

March 19, 2021

Sofis has extensive experience in economic development and will play a critical role in strengthening the city's economy and supporting workers as San Francisco recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic

San Francisco, CA Mayor London N. Breed today appointed Kate Sofis to serve as the Director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD).

Kate Sofis is an internationally-regarded leader in equitable urban economic development. Her experience integrates a uniquely diverse background in entrepreneurship and innovation, manufacturing, creative, and technology industry expertise, workforce development, real estate development, and local and regional economic development strategy. Since 2010, she has served as the co-founder and CEO of SFMade, a public-private initiative that has helped catalyze a resurgence in local manufacturing and diverse employment in San Francisco. She recently served as a member of San Francisco's COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force.

"I am excited to appoint Kate Sofis to lead our Office of Economic and Workforce Development," said Mayor Breed. "The programs and services that OEWD provides will play a critical role in our City's economic recovery from COVID-19. Her longstanding commitment to economic development and experiencing supporting local San Francisco businesses, along with her demonstrated focus promoting equitable economic development, make her a perfect fit for this role. I have full confidence that Kate has the experience and skill-set to lead the organization and ensure San Francisco comes back even stronger than before."

"It is a privilege and an honor to be asked to lead OEWD during this critical time for our community," said Kate Sofis. "I am excited to work with our Mayor, the Board of Supervisors, the incredible OEWD team, and across the public and private sectors to chart a path forward to economic recovery for the city I love."

The Office of Economic and Workforce Development is responsible for supporting the economic vitality of San Francisco by promoting programs that attract and retain business, promote workforce development, maximize long-term public benefits in new development, strengthen small businesses, create international business opportunities in the City, and facilitate the revitalization of commercial corridors. This work is especially important as San Francisco gets on the road to recovery from COVID-19 and continues to support businesses and workers throughout the city.

Under Kate's leadership, SFMade has supported more than 650 manufacturers to start, grow, and stay in the City, sustaining more than 7,500 jobs for local residents from all walks of life. In partnership with the City of San Francisco, in 2013 SFMade launched the first hiring program dedicated to manufacturing, followed one year later by the Bay Area's first summer youth jobs program focused on "maker-careers." The program, YouthMade, has provided paid internships to more than 500 low-income youth and career exposure classes to more than 1,000 youth in San Francisco public high schools. Most recently, Sofis led SFMade to launch the City of San Francisco's first advanced manufacturing sector bridge academy, Next Generation Manufacturing, along with non-profit training partner, Humanmade.

"Kate Sofis has been an important leader and innovator in the local manufacturing community in San Francisco for over a decade. Throughout, she has demonstrated a strong commitment to creating good paying, blue collar jobs of the future, advancing local economic opportunities and celebrating the resilient character of San Francisco entrepreneurs," said Assessor-Recorder Joaquin Torres, and former Director of OEWD. "Now she's joining an extraordinary team at OEWD and together I know they will continue to execute Mayor Breed's vision for an equitable economic and cultural recovery, one that benefits our diverse small businesses, neighborhoods and industries, and places San Francisco on a stronger and more just economic footing and centers those historically marginalized and now hardest hit by this pandemic."

"As San Francisco begins to round the corner on the COVID-19 public health crisis, we see that the path to recovery must include our local business community who has stood by us," said City Administrator Carmen Chu, Co-Chair of the San Francisco Economic Recovery Task Force. "In the decade that I have known Kate Sofis, I have witnessed her fierce commitment to development of our local manufacturing sector. She understands that for businesses to thrive, the pieces around land use, affordability, and regulations all need to work in harmony."

In addition to her work at SFMade, Sofis has experience working with the City of San Francisco to develop and implement key policies to support economic development. She represented manufacturing on Mayor Ed Lee's Business Tax Reform task force. She also played a lead role in developing San Francisco's current industrial land use strategy, which led to the genesis of the City's only non-profit affordable industrial development corporation, PlaceMade, and the completion of its first project, the Manufacturing Foundry at 150 Hooper. Kate served as the at-large Mayoral Appointee to the newly-formed Eastern Neighborhoods Citizens Advisory Committee for the first five years. Kate currently chairs the regional 30-city Bay Area Urban Manufacturing Initiative.

Since the onset of COVID-19, OEWD has helped lead the City's response by serving as a central information hub and support for businesses and workers as they grapple with the incredible uncertainty and challenges created by the pandemic. OEWD has coordinated with public health officials and the business community to maximize safety and limit economic damage, led development and implementation of relief programs and policies for businesses and workers, and built a foundation for an equitable recovery. The department's staff and resources, as well as its extensive network of civic and business leaders, philanthropy and community-based organizations, have been critical for providing these COVID-19 relief initiatives.

"Kate Sofis brings rare expertise and experience in both economic development and workforce development," said Abby Snay, Former CEO, JVS. "Her vision of a strong economy that builds businesses and trains workers for good jobs makes her the right person to lead the Office of Economic and Workforce Development in this time of economic recovery."

"Kate Sofis is such a natural fit to lead the OEWD. She has an incredible track-record, having taken SF Made from being merely an idea to being such an incredible resource for manufacturers and giving San Francisco businesses a seat at the table, on the local, state and even federal levels," said Eileen Hassi Rinaldi, Founder and CEO, Ritual Coffee Roasters. "We are entering a time that will be critical for our citythe very things that make San Francisco what it is: the small businesses, the vibrant neighborhood corridors, the people, are going to be in need of someone effective, someone who knows both how to listen and how to synthesize great ideas into an actionable plan. And that's Kate Sofis. As a small business owner and someone who loves San Francisco, I couldn't be more confident that the people and the businesses of San Francisco will be in great hands."

"San Francisco's many small makers you know and love today, have made their businesses work in our city because of Kate Sofis' vision to revitalize urban manufacturing in our city and the support structure she built to enable this movement through SFMade. It's a big reason why Heath Ceramics is here," said Robin Petravic, Managing Director, Heath Ceramics. "Whenever Heath Ceramics is adding to our production team at our factory in the Mission, we look to the jobs program Kate built at SFMade. There's no doubt she'll continue to support our local workforce and enable better job opportunities in her new role."

"For more than a decade, Kate Sofis has built up our city's manufacturing base and enriched our small business community," said Rodney Fong, President and CEO, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. "She is a champion for San Francisco's economic development, workers, and entrepreneurs. We are so excited for her leadership as Director of OEWD, and the department is lucky to have her essential industry-specific knowledge and deep understanding of San Francisco based businesses."

Prior to founding SFMade, Sofis was the Statewide Director for Pacific Community Ventures, and held senior positions at ICF Consulting, Bay Area Economics, and Ernst and Young. Sofis has a Master of Science in City Design and Social Policy from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Harvard University.

Sofis was born and raised in a working-class neighborhood in Buffalo, New York and is the daughter of a single-parent musician mother. She followed her childhood dreamto live and work in one of the most creative and vibrant cities in the worldto San Francisco 30 years ago and never looked back. Kate lives with her partner, Peter DeHaas, the founder and Executive Director of the San Francisco Disability Business Alliance, and their three teenage children, the youngest of whom is intellectually and developmentally disabled, in the West Portal neighborhood of San Francisco.

This press release was produced by the Office of the San Francisco Mayor. The views expressed here are the author's own.

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Mayor London Breed Appoints Kate Sofis As Director Of The Office Of Economic And Workforce Development - Patch.com

BRUSSELS & PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:

Today, Groupe Renault, top automotive player, with Veolia (Paris:VIE), global leader in optimized resource management, and Solvay, leading science-based company, are pleased to announce their partnership to enable the circular economy of EV battery metals in Europe through closed-loop recycling.

The existing Veolia and Solvay consortium, created in September 2020, is thus reinforced with Groupe Renaults pioneering position and experience in circular economy and in the life cycle of EV batteries, leading to a highly complementary partnership benefitting from Solvays expertise in the chemical extraction of battery metals and Veolias 10 years of experience in lithium-ion battery dismantling and recycling via a hydrometallurgical process.

With the number of electric vehicles on the road expected to grow from 10 million in 2020 to over 100 million by 2030 worldwide*, ensuring stable access to responsibly sourced battery materials is a strategic challenge.

In that respect, the three partners seek to establish a secure and sustainable supply source for strategic battery metals, such as cobalt, nickel and lithium. The companies plan to achieve this goal by leveraging their respective expertise at each step of the value chain from collection of end-of-life electric vehicle batteries to dismantling, metal extraction and purification and by enhancing existing mechanical and hydrometallurgical battery recycling processes. Through Solvay and Veolias joint innovative technology, strategic metals that were previously recovered in a form only suitable for metallurgical applications will be extracted and purified into high-purity metals ready to be reused in new batteries, thereby reducing the environmental footprint of future EV batteries through this closed loop.

The three partners are already actively engaged in an experimental phase, which involves setting up a pre-industrial demo plant in France with the capability to extract and purify end-of-life EV battery metals.

Luca de Meo, CEO of Renault, declared: Groupe Renault has a holistic approach to the battery life cycle: repairing first-life batteries to extend their automotive lifespan, developing second-life applications for energy storage and setting up a system for collecting and recycling batteries. Today, we are proud to reinforce our commitment to battery recycling by joining forces with Veolia and Solvay. We aim at implementing innovative and low-carbon battery recycling solutions to pave the way to sustainable sourcing for strategic battery materials as electric mobility is growing. Together, we will leverage our strong presence on the entire EV value chain in Europe to take a competitive position in the battery materials market and generate value beyond our core business.

Antoine Frrot CEO of Veolia, commented, Given the magnitude of the environmental issues the world is facing, ecological transformation is an urgent need. With Groupe Renault joining Veolia and Solvay, we are collectively taking a step further towards closed-loop solutions to preserve natural resources. This shows how companies working together can think up and implement new solutions that both better our environment and renew our economies.

Ilham Kadri, CEO of Solvay Group, added, This consortium is a great example of partnership in the value chain that makes circular economy come true for battery metals. We are thrilled to have Groupe Renault join the consortium and view them as a strategic partner in closing the loop of circularity, bringing input material for recycling and re-injecting purified metals into the battery cycle. This project exemplifies how we walk the talk with our Solvay One Planet sustainability roadmap as we aim to more than double revenues generated in a circular economy by 2030.

About Groupe RenaultGroupe Renault is at the forefront of reinventing mobility.Thanks to its alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors, and its unique expertise in electrification, Groupe Renault leverages the complementarity of its 5 brands: Renault, Dacia, LADA, Alpine and Mobilize, to offer solutions for innovative and sustainable mobility to its customers. Established in more than 130 countries, it now has more than 180,000 employees and sold 2.95 million vehicles in 2020.Ready to take on challenges on the road as in the market, the Group is committed to an ambitious, value creating transformation focused on the development of new technologies and services, a new range of vehicles that is even more competitive, balanced and electrified. In line with environmental challenges, Groupe Renault aims to achieve carbon neutrality in Europe by 2050.

About VeoliaVeolia group is the global leader in optimized resource management. With nearly 179,000 employees worldwide, the Group designs and provides water, waste and energy management solutions which contribute to the sustainable development of communities and industries. Through its three complementary business activities, Veolia helps to develop access to resources, preserve available resources, and to replenish them. In 2019, the Veolia group supplied 98 million people with drinking water and 67 million people with wastewater service, produced nearly 45 million megawatt hours of energy and treated 50 million metric tons of waste. Veolia Environnement (listed on Paris Euronext: VIE) recorded consolidated revenue of 27.189 billion in 2019 (USD 29.9 billion).

About SolvaySolvay is a science company whose technologies bring benefits to many aspects of daily life. With more than 23,000 employees in 64 countries, Solvay bonds people, ideas and elements to reinvent progress. The Group seeks to create sustainable shared value for all, notably through its Solvay One Planet roadmap crafted around three pillars: protecting the climate, preserving resources and fostering a better life. The Groups innovative solutions contribute to safer, cleaner, and more sustainable products found in homes, food and consumer goods, planes, cars, batteries, smart devices, health care applications, water and air purification systems. Founded in 1863, Solvay today ranks among the worlds top three companies for the vast majority of its activities and delivered net sales of 9 billion in 2020. Solvay is listed on Euronext Brussels and Paris (SOLB), and in the United States, where its shares (SOLVY) are traded through a Level I ADR program. Learn more at http://www.solvay.com.

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Groupe Renault, Veolia & Solvay Join Forces to Recycle End-of-life EV Battery Metals in a Closed Loop - Business Wire

Khunta (Odisha): The 50 Mankdia households of Dengam village in Khunta block on the fringe of the Simlipal forest in Odisha watched nervously as angry flames raced through the forest a forest that has sustained their particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG) for centuries.

The Simlipal wildfire had started in the second week of February and it had been two weeks since 28-year-old Dilip Mankdia had been able to enter the forest to collect sialilata (siali fibre). Without siali fibre, we cant survive, said Dilip.

Source: Vasundhara

Dilips friend, 29-year-old Dasarath Mankdia, added, We often face intimidation from the forest authorities while collecting siali bark in the dense forest. But with the wildfire, our people are in a depression. If we dont go to the forest, how will we survive? We cant depend only on the public distribution system.

Elsewhere, in Kaptipada block, 40-year-old Sushil Bhodta, a member of the Lodha tribal community, also watched the fire rage through the forest. This is the right time to collect honey, he told The Wire. But the wildfire is creating too much smoke. Our honey bees are leaving the area. What should we do now? How we will collect honey?

Habitats and homes

When news of the wildfire in Simlipal broke, concerns were raised about the possible destruction of the tiger reserve in the inner forest as well as that of the other local wildlife and plants. But little thought was given to the socioeconomic conditions of the displaced tribal communities of the Simlipal Tiger Reserve, particularly PVTGs like the Mankdia community, a semi-nomadic offshoot of the Birhor tribe, many of whom have yet to secure habitat rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2006. The main source of livelihood for the Mankdia community is the collection of siali fibre from the deep forests of Simlipal, from which they make and sell rope.

The wildfire has dismantled the tribal economy, said Gopinath Majhi, convener of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), a national forum of tribal and forest dwellers that works for tribal land and forest rights. There is an urgent need to assess the vulnerabilities of the tribal communities around Simlipal.

Several scheduled tribal communities live around the Simlipal reserve, including the Kolha, Santal, Bhumija, Bhatudi, Gond and Ho. The area is also home to three particularly vulnerable tribal groups: Mankdia, Lodha and Hill Kharia. While many of the scheduled tribal communities who once sustained themselves via the forest economy have started practicing settled agriculture and wage labour, the PVTGs and other forest dwelling indigenous communities still make their livelihoods from minor forest produce (MFPs) such as siali fibre, honey, mushrooms and so on.

Also read: Wildfire Ravages Similipal, Asias Second Largest Biosphere Reserve

The collection of MFPs contributes significantly to the livelihood of tribal communities, said Rama Chandra Dalai who is in charge of block livelihood coordination at the Odisha Livelihood Mission, Khunta, Mayurbhanj. Around 50-60% of most tribal household income is generated from the collection and sale of MFPs around the year. But the livelihood of the PVTGs is 100% forest-based.

Sricharan Behera, a Bhubaneswar-based researcher and member of the CSD, said, Tribal communities are the best guardians of forests and wildlife. It is high time we understood the traditional conservation and coexistence nature of our forest dwelling communities.

Out of place

Increasing restrictions on the collection of forest-based produce and the poor implementation of pro-poor schemes and programmes have worsened the socioeconomic situation of the displaced forest dwelling communities.

According to tribal rights activists, wildfires are a natural occurrence in the forests of these dry regions and can be controlled within the first few hours of their outbreak with the support of local tribal communities. But over the years there has been increased alienation between the local communities and the forest department authorities and with the displacement of the communities from within the forests, they are no longer the forests first line of defence.

The tribal rights activists have been advocating for the proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, to ensure the habitat rights of the PVTG communities, mainly the Hill Kharia, Mankdia and Lodha. So far, however, the conflicts between the the indigenous communities, local civil societies and the forest department seem insurmountable. While in 2015 the Forest Rights Act granted the PVTGs from the displaced villages community forest resource rights, from 2017, after the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) issued an order that banned the process of distributing tribal rights in the tiger reserves across India, the habitat rights of the Mankdia community have been contested. According to activists and the local people, the forest department opposed the decision of the district collector to recognise the Mankdias habitat rights in the core of the tiger reserve.

Dilip Mankdia weaving siali rope his main source of livelihood in Dengam village. Photo: Abhijit Mohanty

Some people have land on the official records, but it is not demarcated as yet, said Sibashankar Sing, sarpanch(village head) of Mankidiasahi.

The homes of the displaced communities were constructed in 1976 and are in poor condition. My home needs repair before the rainy season. It is fragile and cant withstand heavy rains, said 42-year-old Sahira Mankidia of Dengam village.

For many of them, it is also hard to get their dues from the government. I have been struggling to get my old age pension for more than five years, said 72-year-old Surumuni Mankadia from Dengam. Each time I meet the sarkari babus (government authorities) I plead with them to process my application. But I dont know when I will get my pension.

In Champagarh village, the Lodha people are interested in working under the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act). But the last time they received work under the Act was in 2015, said 48-year-old Budhia Bhakta, a villager. Most of the NREGA work is related to the construction of roads or water tanks. This does not help our community as the contractors mostly use machines, Budhia said.

Natural resources

About 4.2% or 8,111.55 square km of the total geographical area of Odisha is forest land and11.4% of these forests are protected areas. The state hosts 18 sanctuaries and two national parks, the majority of which are located in the Scheduled V areas where the tribal communities prevail.

The forest fringe areas of Simlipal Biosphere Reserve in Mayurbhanj district, for instance, is home to 1,265 villages with a total population of over four lakh people, of whom 73.44% belong to the scheduled tribes.

Most of the people of the Hill Kharia community live in the Morada, Jashipur Udala and Karanjia blocks under Mayurbhanj district. A small population of the community also resides in the Balasore, Sundargarh, Keonjhar and Dhenkanal districts.

Also read: With Hydro Projects in the Himalayas Flouting Norms, Disaster Is an Eventuality

The Hill Kharia community is divided into three sections: the Hill Kharia, the Dhelki Kharia and the Dudh Kharia. They mainly subsist by collecting forest-based produce, such as honey in the summer season, mushrooms during the rainy season, sal resins at the end of the rainy season and arrow-root in winter.

They also collect seasonal fruits around the year, including kendu, bhudur, banicha, mango and guava, as well as edible roots such as pitalu, ramalu, panalu, mahualu, khamaalu, chimalu, churkalu and kandalu and a variety of green leaves, including banjari, chatani, jhinei, gardi, jail, kundali, matha and kaunra. In addition to rice, traditional millets and maize are their staple foods.

Women help fuel the household economy by weaving mats from date palm leaves, harvesting bamboo shoots from the forest and preparing ambasadha or mango jelly. They also make leaf plates and cups for household use and to sell in the local weekly markets.

The Lodha tribal community is settled mainly in the Morada and Siliapada blocks of Odishas Mayurbhanj district. According to the 2011 census, their population consists of 9,785 people. For the last 150 years, the Lodhas have had to live with the stigma of being criminals, due to being listed by the colonial British government under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871. This has led to severe discrimination against them and the denial of their rights.

Surumuni Mankedia in Dengam village under Khunta block of Mayurbhanj district. Photo: Abhijit Mohanty

The Lodha community primarily depends on subsistence agriculture for their livelihood, but also relies on fishing and the collection of tussar cocoons and seasonal minor forest produce. This includes arrow-root and karanj seeds between December and February, honey and jhuna (wax) between March and May and September and October, gum in August and September, kusum seeds in June and July, resin in November and December and May and June, sal seeds in May and June and mahua flowers between March and May.

One of the communitys primary income-generating activities is conducted by women, who make ropes from sabai grass. Bamboo crafts sold in weekly markets are a recent income addition for their households.

The Mankdia tribal community lives in the Mayurbhanj, Kalahandi and Sundargarh districts of Odisha. In Mayurbhanj, the community is called Mankdia, while in Kalahandi and Sundargarh, it is known as Mankidi.

According to the 2011 census, the Mankdia community consists of 2,222 people, 255 families of whom live in nine villages in Mayurbhanj district and 160 families of whom reside in Kaptipada sub-division in five villages.

Abhijit Mohantyis a Delhi-based development professional and freelance journalist. He has worked with indigenous communities, refugees, internally displaced people and migrant workers across India and Cameroon.

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Odisha: How the Simlipal Wildfire Razed the Economy of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups - The Wire

MALAKAND:

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said the government was working for the promotion of technical education and information technology to ensure sustainable economic growth, which would ultimately help generate more jobs and empower the country's youth.

Addressing the inauguration function of new block at Malakand University, Premier Imran said, Developed nations' success is attributed to their priorities they accord to quality education, research and knowledge-based economy and this is why the government is investing in human resource development for rapid economic growth and to generate more employment opportunities.

PM Imran said NUML University is providing quality education to thousands of aspiring students, expressing hope that it would soon become on a par with the Oxford University.

Al Qadir University will be completed by this September and it would also become a hub of quality education and research works, he added.

Taking a jibe at PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, the PM said the country's wealth had been stolen for the past 30 years and its plunderers had either taken shelter in hospitals or fled abroad to escape accountability.

Happiness, he remarked, could only be achieved by following the right path and serving people with dedication and commitment.

Imran said there was no shortcut in life for achieving goals and all objectives could be achieved through hard work and professionalism, adding that aimless life destroyed potential of individuals.

He said Pakistan possessed all the potential to become a developed country and great responsibility lay with the educational institutions to bring intellectual revolution among students as per Quaid-i-Azam and Allama Iqbal's vision.

He said when his government took over the country's reins, it was facing massive loan burden and bank default and the national kitty was almost empty. With the support of friendly countries and his government's strong economic policies, he said, the country was now heading towards the right direction of economic stability and prosperity.

The country, he said, had come out of a difficult economic situation now and his government had returned a record Rs6.2 trillion interest on loans during the last two and a half years, whereas, the PML-N could only repay Rs3 trillion during the same period.

In comparison, his government had returned Rs35 trillion as repayment and interest on loans whereas the PML-N had paid back only Rs20 trillion, he informed.

He said the government was focusing on mega development projects to generate economic and financial resources. In addition to two mega projects of Bhasha and Mohmand dams to meet energy needs, Ravi and Business cities were also being established in Lahore with the potential to generate Rs6,000 billion revenue and promote economic activities, he added.

Following construction of Chashma Right Bank Canal (CRBC), he said over 300,000 acres of land would be irrigated in DI Khan and adjoining districts that would bring about green revolution in southern districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

He said the area on right bank of the Indus River was the most suitable option for olive plantation and a substantial revenue could be generated by promoting its cultivation, besides saving hefty revenue being spent on edible oil import.

The PM also hinted at soon announcing a new policy for further promotion of the agriculture sector in the country.

Imran said promotion of tourism in the country was the cornerstone of the PTI government's policy and domestic tourism had now taken off, especially in K-P.

He said Malaysia was earning about $20 billion, Turkey $40 billion, Switzerland from $60 billion to $80 billion from tourism and Pakistan's northern areas, including Gilgit-Baltistan and K-P, have more land than Switzerland where skiing sports could be developed to generate substantial revenue for the national kitty.

Malaysia, he said, had achieved remarkable success by promoting cottage and others industries due to the prudent leadership of its Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohammad.

Earlier, the PM was briefed about the salient features of the newly inaugurated block in Malakand University.

Upon his arrival, the PM was received by Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and the University of Malakand vice chancellor.

Premier Imran also visited the Swat Motorway and inaugurated three tunnels that will significantly reduce travel time.

He unveiled the plaque on the occasion to mark the inauguration and also inspected the completed tunnels.

Federal Minister for Communications Murad Saeed accompanied him.

On his arrival at Zalam Kot, Malakand, the PM was received by Mahmood and Director General of Frontier Works Organisation, Major General Kamal Azfar.

Briefing the premier, the FWO DG said the 80km-long Swat Motorway had seven interchanges and three tunnels with length of 1,266, 271 and 324 metres.

He also presented a 3D model of Swat Motorway to the prime minister.

The K-P government has successfully constructed Pakistan's first provincial motorway from its own resources.

The Swat Motorway has reduced journey time for commuters, especially tourists and traders. It also benefits the entire Malakand Division comprising Swat, Dir Lower, Dir Upper, Chitral Lower, Chitral Upper, Bajaur, Buner and Shangla districts.

The motorway originates from Karnal Sher Interchange in Swabi district on the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway and ends at Chakdara in Dir Lower district.

Former K-P chief minister Pervaiz Khattak had performed its groundbreaking on August 25, 2016.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has recently approved acquisition of 10,000 kanal of land for the Swat Motorway Phase-II, which would be constructed from Chakdara to Fatehpur Madayn with an estimated cost of Rs37 billion, besides Rs20 billion cost of land.

The completion of the first phase of Swat Motorway has opened opportunities of trade, business and tourism for the Malakand Division, besides significantly reducing the distance between Peshawar and Swat to nearly two hours.

Before the construction of Swat Motorway, it used to take about four hours to reach Peshawar from Mingora, Swat due to the narrow Malakand Pass. (With input from app)

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Govt following in the footsteps of developed nations: PM - The Express Tribune

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Non-profit StartOut and Socos Labs today announced the launch of their Inclusion Impact Indexes survey available to all US-based entrepreneurs. The Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) survey measures entrepreneurs economic impact in terms of job creation, patents, financings and exits.

The initial initiative, The StartOut Pride Economic Impact Index (SPEII) was originally launched in July 2020. The SPEII was the first of the Inclusion Impact Indexes to gain insights on All, Female, and LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs' economic impact and quantified the economic value of under-utilized LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs in near real-time.

The survey gathers data with the goal of addressing the talent and resource gap at a time when the US needs every region and every community to reach its full potential to kickstart the US economy post Covid-19. The insights gained from the survey will be available for free, for all to access and utilize for quantitative decision-making. Municipalities, investors, ecosystem builders, and grantors can use the insights to improve their support of founders with diverse backgrounds and reap the corresponding benefits.

Initial Inclusion Impact Indexes data insights show that over the last 20 years, for example:

Socos Labs and StartOut are excited about the number of collaborators who are inviting their entrepreneurs to take part in the confidential survey. The list of collaborators is growing and includes: 500 Startups, Aspen Tech Policy Hub, AWS, Bunker Labs, Crunchbase, FLIK, Global Entrepreneurship Network, Google For Startups, Grid110, Halcyon, Impact Hub New York Metropolitan, Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, National Venture Capital Association, OutLeadership, PitchBook, Silicon Valley Bank, SV Impact, TechCrunch, Venture Forward, many others. StartOut invites all entrepreneurs and their supporters throughout the US to participate in this seminal D&I project.

"StartOut is thrilled to work with a rapidly growing list of project collaborators who have signed-on to use their own networks and support this critical D&I project," added Andres Wydler, StartOuts executive director. "We need to understand every communitys contributions and unrealized potential today if we want to maximize the speed of the recovery post-Covid 19."

Participation in the survey is voluntary and all responses are held in confidentiality. Only aggregated, anonymized insights are shared publicly.

The Inclusion Impact Indexes initiative utilizes big data analysis and a corresponding AI-driven engine to both measure contributions in close to real-time and calculate what they could be with equal access. The easy-to-use platform visualizes growth opportunities by metro areas in terms of jobs, patents, fundraising and company exits. It also sheds light on entrepreneurial opportunities within specific industries and allows for multiple correlation analyses.

"Our big-data driven approach takes the guesswork out of decision making for interventions," said Dr. Vivienne Ming, founder of Socos Labs. "Over time, we can evaluate trends and differences with the data at hand and will gain deep insights into which programs and regulations impact opportunities for underrepresented communities, positively and negatively."

"It is critical to create an environment free from marginalization where everyone has an equal chance to share in the economic opportunities that business ownership can provide," stated Cate Costa, vice president, Global Philanthropy at JPMorgan Chase, which supported the SPEII development. "JPMorgan Chase is proud to support the Inclusion Impact Indexes, which empowers leaders to make data-driven investments that will help make entrepreneurship more accessible and equitable for underserved communities."

Entrepreneurs in the US can easily complete the survey in 2-4 minutes and can be accessed securely online at:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfVI3IdL8mk6RqCrPRFRYiqdOT0hv0RwTGJDQgK0UpmtcAZmQ/viewform

The StartOut Pride Economic Impact Index is publicly available for free at http://www.inclusionindexes.org.

About StartOut:

Founded in 2009, StartOut, a national 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is the largest national organization to support LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs with over 17K members nationwide. StartOuts mission is to increase the number, diversity, and impact of LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs and amplify their stories to drive the economic empowerment of the community. StartOut helps aspiring LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs start new companies; supports current entrepreneurs as they grow and expand their existing businesses; and engages successful entrepreneurs as role models and mentors, on its online portal and through targeted events nationwide. For more information, please visit http://www.startout.org

About Socos Labs:

Socos Labs was created by Dr. Vivienne Ming after a career founding companies and nonprofits to overcome challenges in education, the workforce, and health. Socos Labs is a mad science incubator that explores messy human problems. Socos experiments with whole new visions of work, education, innovation, and inclusive economies to inform more human-centered policy. To learn more about Socos Labs, email us at info@socos.org.

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Socos Labs and StartOut Roll Out Inclusion Impact Indexes Survey to All US Entrepreneurs - Business Wire

The high-level meeting in Alaska this week between top American and Chinese national security officials is pivotal. Indeed, historians may look back on it as decisive. This is not just the first meeting following President Donald Trumps departure and President Joe Bidens arrival, but it may herald the arrival of a new era of U.S.-Chinese dynamics, defined by persistent and consistent friction, volatility, and distrust.

Whereas past presidential transitions offered both sides a chance to redefine the terms of relations, the Biden team jumped into the deep end of the pool head first. It immediately framed U.S.-Chinese relations as a strategic competition, with the president at one point calling it extreme competition. At the same time, administration officials have talked about avoiding a new Cold War, suggesting support for a strategy of competition and coexistence, previously advocated by national security adviser Jake Sullivan and the National Security Councils coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, Kurt Campbell.

The central China policy challenge facing the Biden administration is this: how to build and sustain a political consensus both at home and abroad for a balanced approach of competition without catastrophe. This is no easy task. The American publics views of China are at historic lows, undermining support for stable relations . While Congress displays broad consensus in favor of a more competitive approach, China policy has also become deeply partisan. U.S. allies and partners, both in Europe and Asia, hold a diversity of views about Beijing. And China isnt standing still, but rather adopting policies to blunt or circumvent U.S. power.

As American policymakers seek to navigate the debates at home and abroad, a critical challenge will be ensuring these discussions are based on sound analytical judgments about China and U.S.-Chinese dynamics. We are concerned about five myths that have become common in the United States, all of which deserve closer scrutiny as the Biden administration refines its China strategy: First, that Chinas economy is on the precipice of collapse, or conversely, is a juggernaut. Second, that Beijing can effectively plan the countrys future out several decades. Third, that Xi Jinping is preparing an imminent invasion of Taiwan. Fourth, that Beijing will engage in military adventurism to distract from domestic crisis. And, finally, that the U.S. policy of engagement was a total failure.

Chinas Economy: Neither Colossus nor Collapsing

First, the Chinese economy is neither barreling toward global supremacy nor rapidly declining to the point of eventual collapse. U.S. debates consistently frame Chinas economic future in extreme terms collapse or colossus but experts cant seem to decide on which one, fueling a bevy of competing policy options.

The best way to look at the Chinese economy is to acknowledge its large size and consistent growth, while also recognizing that it faces both immediate and structural challenges. Beijing is essentially a vibrant and active middle-age person who confronts the risk of both a heart attack and cancer at the same time.

Crucially, however, Beijings actions in recent years indicate it has the resources and toolkit to manage these risks, or at least to push them off into the future. Financial risk, which is arguably the most likely catalyst for a crisis, is mitigated by the strong balance sheets of state-owned banks, a heavily managed capital account, and ample liquidity provisions by the central bank. Structural challenges, like Chinas shrinking workforce and aging population, will constrain China, but the leadership hopes to grow or innovate out of them.

Chinese policymakers have thus far managed these risks by doing four hard things simultaneously: rebalance from the old growth drivers of exports and investment to consumption and services; move up the manufacturing value chain by investing in technology and pursuing an ambitious decarbonization agenda to boost the green economy; reduce accumulating financial vulnerabilities, even as they slowly open the financial system and further develop capital markets; and retain a floor under economic output to ensure employment growth andrising living standards.

Beijing has been able to maintain this delicate balance in large part due to its ability to proactively identify and address the most immediate risks, to set priorities, and then mobilize resources to address problems. Of course, the consistent growth of the economy which notably outperformed all others in 2020 makes managing all of these easier.

Whether Beijing can successfully maintain this steady state is the 64,000 renminbi question. Xi has turned his back on the broad logic of market reforms, and the efficacy of his more statist growth model wont be proved one way or the other for several years. In the meantime, policymakers have to contend with an aging population and shrinking workforce, a private sector contending with the reassertion of the state, and an international environment that is increasingly wary of Chinese investment. All of this while Beijing pushes for the country to become dominant and self-reliant in a range of key technologies, from semiconductors to artificial intelligence.

Looking at the challenges Beijing faces in the next decade, a far more realistic scenario than collapse or a surge ahead is for China to continue a prolonged period of muddling through. This would be characterized by growth settling into the low single digits, as Xis statist policies put downward pressure on productivity gains and policymakers contend with an aging society and a shrinking workforce. China will continue to be an important global player given its sheer scale, but much of its great power economic luster may fade away.

Central Planning Versus Central Execution

A second myth is that China has a grand plan for its future out to 2049 and one that will virtually guarantee its status as a great power. The reality is far more modest.

If there is one thing the Chinese Communist Party is good at, its churning out plans. There are five-year economic plans, industry plans, provincial plans, plans for the development of specific technologies, plans for modernizing the military, and if Xis 2017 speech at the last big party conclave is to be taken at face value, there is a plan to guide the countrys development through 2049.

However, formulating plans and implementing plans, especially over long time horizons, are two very different things. And while its true that Chinas authoritarian system undoubtedly gives it an edge over democratic market economies in defining goals and channeling resources toward them, the output of Beijings thicket of market-based and planned moves is often policy errors, local discontent, bad investments, and growing foreign opposition from countries and companies to Beijings policies. Chinas leaders have been able to absorb these inefficiencies especially the bad investments in large part due to Chinas growth momentum and Xis political control. But, going forward, it is very doubtful absorbing and ignoring these inefficiencies can be sustained for too much longer.

Almost all of Chinas plans succeed in the sense that Beijing never admits defeat, but its hard to rectify the idea of effectiveness of multigenerational planning with the overwhelming evidence of capital miscoordination, bureaucratic infighting, resource siphoning, overcapacity, and white elephant infrastructure projects that are part and parcel of Chinas actual, existing political economy. If planning the present is so difficult, how is Beijing supposed to plan the economys trajectory out several decades?

None of this is meant to deny the diversity of challenges China presents to the United States today economically, technologically, or militarily. Chinas accomplishments in all three arenas have been impressive, and the United States needs to do far better at competing in these arenas. Rather, our point is that Xis plans are increasingly ambitious and reflect risky bets, and Chinas ability to absorb future mistakes is probably declining. As Tom Fingar and Jean Oi of Stanford University argue, Chinas future is neither inevitable nor immutable.

That said, it is also worth keeping in mind that China doesnt need to fully succeed in any of its big endeavors for the global ripple effects to be significant. Even partial success or partial failure can fundamentally change entire global industries and supply chains, for better or worse. Even China as a partial power, as David Shambaugh described it, will change the world.

Taiwan Timelines

Third, there are as many myths about Chinas external behavior as there are about its domestic policy. One of the most common is: Xi is deeply nervous about Taiwans future and is set to invade Taiwan in the next two to three years. In fact, former national security adviser H.R. McMaster suggested this in recent testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

This is a misreading of Chinas calculus toward Taiwan and the current situation in cross-strait relations. Chinas top leaders have long viewed the Taiwan problem as fundamentally a political problem, not a military one. Their consistent preference has been, first and foremost, to deter independence rather than to compel unification by force. They have deployed a mix of coercion and incentives to do so, and recent military activities around Taiwan reflect this.

Beijings strong preference is to create a situation in which the people of Taiwan and their leaders recognize their future is inevitably tied with the mainland, and then negotiate a reunification deal on Beijings terms. The Xi administrations undermining of Hong Kongs political and legal autonomy serves only to make Taiwan more resistant to Beijings overtures. This means Beijing will need to rely even more on coercion and political warfare to achieve its goal of reunification. This reality, more so than armed conflict, is the near-term challenge U.S. policymakers need to be focused on.

Even in the context of rising cross-Strait tensions, there is little evidence that Xi is uniquely anxious about Taiwan now and preparing an all-out invasion of Taiwan in the next two to three years. All Chinese leaders have to talk tough, and Xi is no exception. But he has never set a clear deadline. The closest he came was in a January 2019 speech linking the achievement of national rejuvenation with Taiwan reunification. The timetable for rejuvenation is still some 30 years off in 2049 (when Xi would be 96). This sounds more like political posturing by Xi within CCP circles than formal planning. Most recently, last weeks annual meeting of the National Peoples Congress did not signal any urgency and instead used stock language on Taiwan, which is unlike last year when comments by senior leaders hinted at a questioning or even a movement away from peaceful reunification as a goal.

Invading Taiwan remains an extraordinarily risky and costly action and, in the next two to three years, it would come at a crucial time for Xis big domestic agenda. It is the one move that could short-circuit Xis vision of national rejuvenation any military action short of complete victory would be a loss. Even if an invasion succeeded, China would then have to occupy Taiwan and seek to pacify its 24 million citizens, gutting Taiwans economy in the process, including its strategically significant high-tech sector.

Whereas experts continue to debate whether China has the military capability in the next few years to invade fully and occupy Taiwan, there is broad agreement that the Peoples Liberation Army has made substantial strides in developing a wide range of capabilities across the spectrum of conflict that it lacked in the last crisis in 1995 and 1996. Whether China possesses the ability for a military invasion or is close to it, the risk calculus remains complex major military action will be far from a no-brainer. The U.S. military is increasingly focused on improving warfighting capabilities in East Asia, including doing much more with its Asian allies. All of this will enhance deterrence.

The most immediate challenge for U.S. policymakers is Chinas coercion strategy, which seeks to shape outcomes in Taiwan by means short of outright aggression. While many of Beijings recent efforts to affect Taiwans domestic political environment have backfired, Taiwans people, as well as its political, economic, and military institutions, are nonetheless coming under increasing stress. Washington needs to be attentive to a loss of confidence by the people of Taiwan in their future, or a loss of faith in U.S. reliability, producing a resignation that their future is with the mainland. In response, Washington needs to do more to enhance Taiwans resilience and diversification in the face of these pressures.

Wag the Dog?

A fourth and related myth is that if Chinas economy slows and domestic challenges accumulate, then Xi will lash out and start a war, perhaps over Taiwan. This notion is inconsistent with Chinas current political realities or its longstanding strategic calculus about external aggression.

As the clich holds, the Chinese Communist Partys first priority is the preservation of power, and the surest way to aggravate political instability over a slowing economy would be to prioritize a military action that would further deplete scarce resources and increase foreign pressure on China. For Xi personally, the surest way to undermine his grand ambitions would be to risk a war at the expense of domestic prosperity and with mixed popular support. Xi clearly has a higher risk tolerance than previous leaders, but there is no evidence that he is reckless.

More realistically, social discontent and economic malaise within China would bury the Chinese Communist Party senior leadership in domestic burdens, likely at the exclusion of foreign policy. Overseas lending would likely shrivel up, and Chinese corporates would find it even more difficult to invest abroad. As we saw in the early days of the most recent domestic crisis, the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, Chinese foreign policy became focused on using diplomacy to generate foreign support indeed, accolades and praise to bolster a beleaguered Chinese Communist Party leadership.

Historically, Chinas leaders have sought to reduce external risk during periods of domestic turmoil. Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping pursued resolution of border disputes when they faced challenges at home, such as after the Great Leap Forward in the late 1950s, the nationwide protests in the spring of 1989, and the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Chinas more assertive foreign policy has coincided with periods in which Beijing has felt confident and assured at home, not weak and vulnerable.

Reports of Engagements Demise

A fifth and final myth at the heart of U.S. debates is that the past U.S. policy of engagement was a complete failure, based on a naive hope that China would reform politically and economically. This is a distortion of both the previous U.S. approach and current challenges from China.

U.S. strategy toward China has not been based solely on engagement for over 25 years. Beginning in the mid-to-late 1990s, U.S. strategists began recognizing the downside risks of Chinas economic and military power, and policymakers responded accordingly. This began with the Nye Initiative in the mid-1990s to revitalize the U.S.-Japanese alliance. Since then, U.S. policy has been a mix of engaging China to shape its views, but also hedging the risks of a stronger and recalcitrant China. President Barack Obamas Asia Pivot strategy was a clear expression of this dual track approach, including with targeted investments in military capabilities and pulling allies closer.

Moreover, Americas engagement policies dialogue, cultural exchanges, etc. were not based on a naive certainty that China would liberalize politically and economically. Certainly, one can find rosy public statements linking engagement with Chinese reform, but its revisionist to claim that this was the foundation for U.S. policy and strategy. Successive U.S. presidents Republican and Democratic believed, rightly, that the best strategic bet for the United States was to try to shape China to be more open at home and responsible abroad, and then adjust its strategy if that reality did not materialize. Xi made clear that such changes were not going to occur, and U.S. policy has been adjusting ever since. The nature and scope of those adjustments are the subject of current debates.

The outright rejection of engagement as one policy tool, within a broader toolkit, to shape China also ignores the debates it prompted within China. Throughout much of the 1980s and 1990s, both liberal reformists and more conservative authoritarians battled over the future direction of the country.

Finally, engagement itself remains essential to the success of more competitive strategies and policies. The United States needs its allies and partners to effectively compete with China, but none of those countries in both Europe and Asia wants to be drawn into a Cold War or be forced to make stark choices between one side or the other. Washington needs engagement and dialogue to reassure both China and Americas allies that while the United States will defend its interests, it also wants to bound competition, reduce mistrust, and remain open to cooperation.

Thus, by pursuing such tools of engagement, the United States can forge stronger and more enduring coalitions to compete with China on those issues, such as technology and global governance, that require collective action. Whats more, unless one is prepared to advocate the complete and total isolation of China, including a full decoupling from its economy, then really what is being debated is how much engagement to pursue and in what circumstances.

Breaking Myths, Making Policy

As the United States and China enter this new era of intense and diverse strategic competition, the American debate about the nature and scope of the China challenge is seminal. Dispensing with these five myths is a first step to setting the empirical foundation for a more informed debate about China strategy and U.S.-Chinese relations as this new era unfolds.

U.S.-Chinese ties today have a feel of the early stage of the Cold War: Perceptions are hardening fast but neither Washington nor Beijing has fully developed its goals, means, or mechanisms for this long-term competition. One critical difference from that era is that the United States knows far more about China today than it did about Moscow back then. Yet, like in the 1940s, U.S. judgements are now subject to intense political pressures. In such a context, the critical task for American leaders and strategists is to right-size the China challenge to ensure that American strategy and policies are based on neither its worst fears nor its naive hopes.

Based on these and other well-informed assessments of Chinese capabilities and its calculus, U.S. strategy needs to reflect an evolving mixture of security balancing, institutional binding, and dialogue and engagement. U.S. strategy toward China needs to do a better job of connecting the problem and the solution and rejecting a one size fits all approach driven by generic ideas like competition, pushback, or regime change. While there is consensus that the United States needs to make deep investments in its own domestic capabilities, there should be a more vigorous debate about where and how it confronts and competes with China internationally. Some highly competitive policies will be needed to blunt and degrade Chinese capabilities, such as in the military and cyber realms. In other domains, U.S. strategy should focus on deterring coercion and aggression, delimiting options, and, where possible, shaping Chinas choices. Yet at the same time, dialogue and engagement are essential to managing competition and preventing crises, while also ensuring strong and consistent international support for such a variegated strategy.

Regardless of where one comes down on the precise mix of policies that the United States and its allies should adopt, the first step is for debate to be based on a cleareyed assessment of China that rejects popular myths and accepts unpopular realities about the countrys capabilities, intentions, strengths and weaknesses. Tilting at windmills is not now, nor has it ever been, the appropriate foundation for good strategy.

Evan S. Medeiros is professor and Penner Family chair in Asian studies at Georgetown Universitys School of Foreign Service and a senior adviser with The Asia Group. He served as senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council from 2013 to 2015.

Jude Blanchette holds the Freeman Chair in China studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Images: China Daily (Photo by Zhang Wei)

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Beyond Colossus or Collapse: Five Myths Driving American Debates about China - War on the Rocks