Project Socrates
Encyclopedia
Project Socrates was a US Defense Intelligence Agency
program established in 1983 within the Reagan administration
. This classified program, founded and directed by physicist Michael Sekora, was designed for the purpose of identifying the root cause of the United States' declining ability to compete, changing the way that American companies conducted business, and restoring a competitive edge to the United States.
According to Project Socrates:
When Reagan's presidential term ended and the Bush administration came to the White House, Project Socrates was labeled as "industrial policy", and began to fall from favor. As a result, in April 1990, the program was defunded.
(DIA), working on preventing the flow of western military technologies to the Soviet Union. At the time, the intelligence agencies of the Soviet Union
(e.g., KGB
, GRU
) were very aggressive in their efforts to acquire technology from the US as well as from various other western countries (e.g., France
, Germany
). The KGB and other Soviet agencies were using a multitude of covert and overt, legal and illegal means to acquire western military technologies
. For example, DIA would block KGB's acquisition of a sensitive US technology that the KGB had trans-shipped through an intricate maze of front companies throughout Africa
. Later, DIA would find out that the KGB was successful in acquiring the same US technology by trans-shipping the technology through a series of front companies in Europe.
It was apparent that the US policy for technology was radically different than the policies of all the other countries that he interacted with. The US technology policy consisted primarily of protection in the form of export controls and other means to prevent the flow of US developed technology out of the US to military adversaries. In contrast, the technology policies of all other countries of the world addressed the flow of technology both into and out of the country. Surprisingly, this was the policy of both US adversary and allied countries, and it was used by the countries to address both their military as well as commercial technologies.
The US approach was premised on the notion that all technology of value to the US was in the US, that the most effective means to have the technology was to execute internal research and development
(R&D), so therefore, the only necessary national policy technology was to prevent its flow out of the country. In addition, only the flow US military critical technologies to the US' military adversaries needed to be restricted.
So while the US approach to technology policy was focused on simply reducing the flow of military technology, its ability to generate an economic competitive advantage was starting to rapidly detriorate in several key industries, with the US auto industry being one. By contrast, other countries were executing strategies to manage the flows of commercial and military technologies into and out of their respective countries to systematically and efficiently build their economic and military strengths.
Sekora concluded that US policy should focus not simply on maintaining the US military strength relative to the Soviet Union, but rather maintaining the economic and military strength that was required to keep the US' position as a superpower. Sekora thereafter initiated the Socrates Project within the Defense Intelligence Agency.
In the early 1980s, it was becoming apparent to some people that the US was losing its competitiveness. However, the Socrates team saw that what amounted to "one-liner" explanations of the reasons for the US' declining competitiveness (e.g., "Japan, Inc.", "A non-level playing field") -which were widely distributed and fully accepted- were too superficial for Socrates' mission of rebuilding America's competitiveness, and were not supported by what was seen while working on the issue of preventing the Soviets from acquiring Western technology.
To determine the source of the US competitiveness problem, Project Socrates assembled an all-source intelligence system which enabled the project to examine competition on a global scale. The combination of deep intelligence and digital data provided a bird's eye, holistic view of all forms of competition worldwide.
Defense Intelligence Agency
The Defense Intelligence Agency is a member of the Intelligence Community of the United States, and is the central producer and manager of military intelligence for the United States Department of Defense, employing over 16,500 U.S. military and civilian employees worldwide...
program established in 1983 within the Reagan administration
Reagan Administration
The United States presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan administration, was a Republican administration headed by Ronald Reagan from January 20, 1981, to January 20, 1989....
. This classified program, founded and directed by physicist Michael Sekora, was designed for the purpose of identifying the root cause of the United States' declining ability to compete, changing the way that American companies conducted business, and restoring a competitive edge to the United States.
According to Project Socrates:
"(B)ird’s eye view of competition went far beyond, in terms of scope and completeness, the extremely narrow slices of data that were available to the professors, professional economists, and consultants that addressed the issue of competitiveness. The conclusions that the Socrates team derived about competitiveness in general and about the U.S. in particular were in almost all cases in direct opposition to what the professors, economists and consultants had been saying for years, and to what had been accepted as irrefutable underlying truths by decision-makers throughout the U.S.”
When Reagan's presidential term ended and the Bush administration came to the White House, Project Socrates was labeled as "industrial policy", and began to fall from favor. As a result, in April 1990, the program was defunded.
Early history
In 1983 Sekora was an intelligence officer within the US Defense Intelligence AgencyDefense Intelligence Agency
The Defense Intelligence Agency is a member of the Intelligence Community of the United States, and is the central producer and manager of military intelligence for the United States Department of Defense, employing over 16,500 U.S. military and civilian employees worldwide...
(DIA), working on preventing the flow of western military technologies to the Soviet Union. At the time, the intelligence agencies of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
(e.g., KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
, GRU
GRU
GRU or Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye is the foreign military intelligence directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation...
) were very aggressive in their efforts to acquire technology from the US as well as from various other western countries (e.g., France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
). The KGB and other Soviet agencies were using a multitude of covert and overt, legal and illegal means to acquire western military technologies
Military technology
Military technology is the collection of equipment, vehicles, structures and communication systems that are designed for use in warfare. It comprises the kinds of technology that are distinctly military in nature and not civilian in application, usually because they are impractical in civilian...
. For example, DIA would block KGB's acquisition of a sensitive US technology that the KGB had trans-shipped through an intricate maze of front companies throughout Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. Later, DIA would find out that the KGB was successful in acquiring the same US technology by trans-shipping the technology through a series of front companies in Europe.
It was apparent that the US policy for technology was radically different than the policies of all the other countries that he interacted with. The US technology policy consisted primarily of protection in the form of export controls and other means to prevent the flow of US developed technology out of the US to military adversaries. In contrast, the technology policies of all other countries of the world addressed the flow of technology both into and out of the country. Surprisingly, this was the policy of both US adversary and allied countries, and it was used by the countries to address both their military as well as commercial technologies.
The US approach was premised on the notion that all technology of value to the US was in the US, that the most effective means to have the technology was to execute internal research and development
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
(R&D), so therefore, the only necessary national policy technology was to prevent its flow out of the country. In addition, only the flow US military critical technologies to the US' military adversaries needed to be restricted.
So while the US approach to technology policy was focused on simply reducing the flow of military technology, its ability to generate an economic competitive advantage was starting to rapidly detriorate in several key industries, with the US auto industry being one. By contrast, other countries were executing strategies to manage the flows of commercial and military technologies into and out of their respective countries to systematically and efficiently build their economic and military strengths.
Sekora concluded that US policy should focus not simply on maintaining the US military strength relative to the Soviet Union, but rather maintaining the economic and military strength that was required to keep the US' position as a superpower. Sekora thereafter initiated the Socrates Project within the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Mission
The Socrates Project from its inception had a twofold mission. First was to determine the true underlying cause of the US' declining competitiveness. Second was to use this understanding to develop the means to rebuild America's competitiveness.In the early 1980s, it was becoming apparent to some people that the US was losing its competitiveness. However, the Socrates team saw that what amounted to "one-liner" explanations of the reasons for the US' declining competitiveness (e.g., "Japan, Inc.", "A non-level playing field") -which were widely distributed and fully accepted- were too superficial for Socrates' mission of rebuilding America's competitiveness, and were not supported by what was seen while working on the issue of preventing the Soviets from acquiring Western technology.
To determine the source of the US competitiveness problem, Project Socrates assembled an all-source intelligence system which enabled the project to examine competition on a global scale. The combination of deep intelligence and digital data provided a bird's eye, holistic view of all forms of competition worldwide.
Socrates' discoveries
Project Socrates identified 5 key mental shifts which had to take place in order to restore the United States' competitive edge:- Decision-makers must revert back to technology exploitation as the foundation for their decision-making.
- The exploitation of the technology is the most effective foundation for decision making for the complete set of functions within the private and public sectors that determine US competitiveness.
- To exploit technology more effectively than its competitors, the US must generate and lead the next evolutionary step in technology exploitation -- the automated innovation revolution.
- A system was developed within the Socrates Project of the US intelligence community, and then refined in the private sector, that would enable the US to generate and lead the automated innovation revolution providing US private and public organizations with the ability to generate and maintain a major competitive advantage over all competitors worldwide for many generations.
- The automated innovation system would, in addition, enable the US private and public organizations to execute automated innovation in a manner that would enable the full range of US resources to be exploited in a highly coherent, flexible, and independent fashion, further increasing the competitive advantages achieved and maintained by the US organizations.