Understanding the diplomacy of agriculture and its role as the ‘backbone of civilization’

“The United States is the second largest agricultural trader in the world, much of our international development focuses on agriculture and feeding the world, making this a leading policy issue,” said Ryan Shaw, Arizona State University’s (ASU) Managing Director of Strategic Initiatives, Senior Advisor to President Michael Crow and brains behind the Competitive Statecraft Initiative. The Competitive Statecraft Initiative aims to leverage all instruments of national power—including agricultural and related policy—during both peace and war to secure the nation’s interests and advance its values.

“The Intersection of Agriculture and Competitive Statecraft,” an event held July 31 to August 1 in Washington, D.C., was presented by ASU’s Competitive Statecraft Initiative and co-sponsored by Mississippi State University (MSU), home to the nation’s first institute dedicated solely to agricultural autonomy and policy. More than 80 attendees including policymakers, government officials and scholars filled the room at the first-of-its-kind conference, and third event as part of the Initiative’s series of discussions, which began in 2022.

The conference underscored the multifaceted role of agricultural policy in competitive statecraft and illuminated how agriculture can serve not only as a means of ensuring global food security but also as a strategic asset in enhancing a nation's geopolitical influence.

Opening remarks by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) touched on his own prognosis of America’s geopolitical stance against top competitors along with his understanding of how agricultural policy can be used as an instrument of national power to help leverage the U.S.’s position globally.

“Without peace, we can't achieve our global goal of zero hunger,” Sen. Wicker said. “And while there's hunger, we will never have a peaceful world.”

Shaw described the Competitive Statecraft Initiative, which he co-developed with Lt. Gen. Charles Cleveland, former Commander of U.S. Army Special Operations Command, as representing the modern-day language for international relations.

He noted that terms such as "political warfare" and "irregular warfare" have unfortunate baggage and aren’t useful for describing modern international relations, hence the term "competitive state" to describe the perpetual rhythm of struggle in international relations without implying the potential for violence.

Shaw’s remarks were followed by a series of speakers including authors Dan Gustafson and Robert D. Kaplan. Kaplan, a bestselling author of 22 books on foreign affairs and travel and former chief geopolitical analyst at Stratfor, spoke on the intersection of the natural environment with geopolitics and world events. He emphasized the implications that the rising population coupled with climate crises can have on a country’s geopolitical stance, and how many developing countries are often not equipped for the direct nor indirect outcomes of environmental changes in relation to their population and it’s needs.

“Man is a biological creature existing in nature and often these environmental factors, whether it's earthquakes, floods, climate change occur, and just general population growth occur, not as direct, but as indirect, background noises to geopolitical crises.”

He observed that environmental crises often act as indirect drivers of geopolitical instability, affecting nations' strategic positions in subtle yet profound ways. Going on to say the environmental results of climate change has an adverse effect on the increasing populations, “[…] the weakening of ingredients, of the nutrients in soil, leads to poorer farmers, leads to more tension between ethnic groups.”

Dan Gustafson, former Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) deputy director general, provided a comprehensive view of agriculture’s role in statecraft based on his experiences in countries like Brazil, Mozambique, Kenya and Italy. He stressed the critical importance of agriculture for global stability and development, pointing out the setbacks in progress due to recent global challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We went backwards during COVID, and if we're lucky, we will end up in 2030 where we started in 2015 and that's really not good,” he added.

The discussions highlighted the urgent need for a robust and forward-thinking agricultural strategy to address both current and future global challenges.

“Agriculture, which is the backbone of civilization, has always been more than just about cultivation of crops and the rearing of livestock. It is the lifeblood of nations, a cornerstone of economic stability and a key determinant of social and political harmony,” said David Shaw, MSU’s executive vice president and provost, during his remarks. “In today's rapidly changing world, the importance of agriculture has only intensified. The global population continues to grow, and technological advancements are revolutionizing how we produce and distribute food.”