Interview, Fireside Chat, Conference Presentation
The Career Changing Magic of Strategic Compartmentalization
- Susan Rice anticipates she may return to full-time public, private, or nonprofit service at a future, undefined date if she encounters a passion-driven opportunity, though she currently has no plans or specific aims for future service in elected or appointed roles.
- She is declining a 2020 Senate run in Maine citing her daughter's status as a junior in high school.
- Regarding China, Rice predicts the threat of intelligence collection and intellectual property theft is intensifying with the Chinese government explicitly aiming to surpass the United States economically, geostrategically, and technologically.
- Rice warns that companies compromising to access the Chinese market are advancing China's position at the U.S. expense and urges a "revolution of patriotism" across the tech sector, private industry, and the public to address security gaps.
- She identifies a broken historical partnership between the academy, private sector, and government, exacerbated by hostility and suspicion within the tech industry toward the state, and suggests catalyzing change through a sustained exchange of personnel where top talent from both sectors swap roles.
- Rice reflects on personal growth from age 32, acknowledging she previously lacked certain characteristics that impeded performance and later recognized that being authentic might intimidate others, while crediting her parents' teachings on racism, sexism, and ageism for preparing her to face discrimination.
- She attributes her career trajectory, including success in the Obama administration, to experiences gained during her tenure at age 32 as the youngest Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, noting that she worked continuously from high school until leaving the Obama administration without anticipating the need for the resiliency derived from her parents' divorce.