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NEWS
The observer | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 2023 | ndsmcobserver.com
Runde lectures on U.S. global leadership By LIAM KELLY News Writer
Da niel Runde, Senior Vice President of t he Center for St rateg ic a nd Internat iona l Studies, promoted his new book, “The A merica n Imperat ive : Recla iming Globa l Leadership t hrough Sof t Power” during a lecture at Jen k ins Na nov ic Ha l ls on Tuesday a f ternoon. In his address, Runde urged t he United States to prov ide a leadership agenda t hat spea ks to developing count ries. Runde noted t hat “we’re not in t he post-Cold Wa r age a ny more” a nd t hat A merica’s posit ion as a unipola r world power is now being cha llenged, hav ing entered an age of “g reat power compet it ion” w it h Russia a nd China. “The Chinese Communist Pa r t y a nd V ladimir Put in’s murderous reg ime ca n f i l l voids today t hat t hey cou ldn’t 20 yea rs ago,” Runde pointed out. “They ca n f i ll voids in vaccines, t hey ca n f ill voids in t he dig ita l space, t hey ca n f i l l voids in inf rast r ucture, t hey ca n f i l l securit y voids, t hey ca n f i l l va lues voids.” W hi le t here may be a bipa r t isa n consensus t hat A merica now faces a t hreat f rom China a nd Russia, “what we don’t have in Washing ton yet is a
consensus on what t he heck to do about it,” Runde sa id. If t he United States does not muster a response to t his t hreat, t he consequences cou ld be catast rophic, he wa rned. “The Chinese Communist Pa r t y is hoping to set up a n a lternate world system. If t here’s a world led by t he Chinese Communist Pa r t y, no one is going to like it,” Runde sa id. This f ierce compet it ion bet ween t he U.S., Russia a nd China, Runde sa id, is not likely to ta ke t he form of direct milita r y conf rontat ion, but rat her a batt le of ideas a nd resources in non-a lig ned count ries t hroughout t he developing world. “The United States a nd our a llies need to of fer a posit ive, for wa rdlook ing agenda t hat spea ks to t he hopes a nd aspirat ions of ot her count ries as an a lternat ive to a Chinese Communist Pa r t y a nd V ladimir Put in pa r t nership in developing count ries,” he added. If t he United States does not prov ide a v ision of leadership for t hese count ries, “t hey’re going to ta ke t heir business somewhere else,” Runde predicted. One of t he most impor ta nt t heaters of t his g reat power compet it ion, Runde sa id, w ill be A f rica. “A big pa r t of our f uture
is in A f rica. There a re a billion people in A f rica today. 25 yea rs f rom today t here w ill be more citi zens of A f rica t ha n a ll t he cit i zens of India a nd ma inla nd China combined,” he sa id. The agenda t hat t he United States prov ides in t his reg ion has to cha nge w it h cha ng ing t imes, Runde sa id. “The k inds of t hings t hat spea k to our f riends’ hopes a nd aspirat ions a re cha ng ing. This isn’t your g ra ndpa rents’ developing world. It’s not even your pa rent’s developing world. It’s richer, f reer, hea lt hier w it h a lot more agency,” he ex pla ined. Runde a rg ued t hat count ries in t he developing world a re now look ing for more inf rast r ucture, technolog y, educat ion pa r t nerships, t rade a nd invest ment f rom t he United States, as opposed to just a id. He a lso urged diplomats to spend more t ime in t hese developing count ries a nd lea rn t he nat ive la ng uages as opposed to simply spea k ing English or French. Runde focused on technolog y as a center piece for t he compet it ion bet ween t he United States a nd Russia a nd China. “I do not t hin k it’s in our interest to have t he dig ita l ra ils of t he f uture be ow ned by [China]. It’s
not in our interests, it’s not in our f riends interests. We need a n a lternat ive,” he pressed. Runde a lso wa rned aga inst using sof t wa re ow ned by China t hat cou ld be used to sur vei l A merica ns. He specif ica lly focused on Ti kTok, which has been subject to recent scr ut iny in Cong ress. “This is bad news. This t racks ever y where you go,” he sa id of Ti kTok. W hi le Runde ack nowledged t hat students might enjoy t he f unny v ideos t hey see on t he app, he implored his audience to t hin k more deeply about China’s intent ions in promot ing t he app in t he United States. “Did you k now, on ma in la nd China, t hey rest rict t he use of Ti k Tok [to] … on ly 1 or 2 hours? ” he sa id. “W hy is it a llowed here ? It’s a lmost li ke a new opium. It’s a lmost like t hey’re ex por t ing somet hing. It’s a lmost like t hey’re doing it on pur pose.” He a lso wa rned aga inst prog ressive Democrats a nd isolat ionist Republica ns who wa nt to see t he United States w it hdraw f rom a leadership role on t he world stage. W hi le Runde sa id he hasn’t hea rd a ny proponents of t his v iew, “say t hey’re cool w it h China leading t he world,” t hat cou ld be t he
consequence of such a policy. He pointed to internat iona l inst itut ions such as t he World Ba n k a nd t he United Nat ions as proof of t his not ion, a rg uing t hat if t he United States ref uses to lead here, China w i l l. “There a re some unfor tunate t hings about t he mu lt ilatera l system,” Runde conceded. “But, if we have a f it a nd quit, g uess what? China ca n f i l l t hat void.” Despite t he t hreat posed by China a nd Russia a nd t he looming specter of conf lict bet ween t he t wo nat ions, he urged f o r g reater understa nding bet ween t he peoples of t hese count ries a nd t he United States. “We need people-to-people connect iv it y,” Runde ex pla ined. “We shou ld ma ke Chinese students in t he United States welcome. I t hin k it’s one of our st reng t hs.” As he recommended seek ing understa nding w it h China, Runde a lso rea f f irmed t he need for t he United States to sta nd up to t he count r y a nd asser t its role as leader of t he internat iona l system. “Leadership is a choice,” Runde stated. “I’m a rg uing t hat we need to lead.” Contact Liam Kelly at lkelly8@nd.edu
business
Ride-share startup hopes to disrupt industry By ALYSA GUFFEY Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
Desi, a college-exclusive ride-share company, is currently in a closed beta test for limited members of the Notre Dame communit y — and the company began in the South Dining Hall stirfr y line. Sophomore Liam Redmond first had the idea for Desi in high school when he noticed his friends hav ing a difficult time ordering rides or feeling unsafe w ith random strangers driv ing them from place to place. Then, he started talking to fellow sophomore Zach Brow n in a line on campus that is know n to be a great time for conversation. “Liam was talking all about Desi and his idea in the stir-fr y line and I said ‘That sounds great,’” Brow n said. “And I thought we could work together because I have that web and app
development background.” Redmond then brought in the third co-founder, film, telev ision and th eatre major Rob Corrato, to the team as chief creative officer to coordinate media production, content creation and marketing for the company. With the core trio assembled, Redmond, Brown and Corrato doubled down in July 2022 to devote time to make their vision come alive. Through a couple of successful Friday pitches at the Idea Center, Desi secured $4,000 in funding through three grants. The company will next source other funding this summer through friends, family or a pre-seed round for potential investors. They plan to run the soft launch through the end of the semester, with more test users added each week, and to prepare for a full launch on the app store in the fall 2023 semester. As of Monday, Desi had 176 approved riders and 48 approved drivers, with 20 drivers currently
listed as active on the app. Rides are free in the beta-testing stage. The only revenue drivers make now is in the form of optional tips. One driver reported back that he made $210 in just two nights of driving, Corrato said. Once Desi goes full throttle, the service will be offered using a base price for pick-up plus a per-mile and per-minute factor. The team estimates an average ride will be $12, with the driver taking home 70% of the total. The pricing model sets the company apart from Uber, which uses dynamic pricing to rack up fares when demand surges. “So it’ll scale up,” Brown said. “But I imagine most of our rides are going to be within that fivemile radius thinking that South Bend airport is probably the farthest people are going to be going.”
Safe and social rides The Desi founders believe they separate themselves from competitors Uber and Lyft through
their closed ecosystem. All drivers and riders must be students within a college’s community. “We really want to introduce this idea of profiles like Instagram where you can see common connections,” Redmond said. “People can see ‘Oh, they’ve got a buddy. It’s a great thing to talk about, and I feel safer if I know you know… a common friend.’” Even the brand’s name plays off the idea of a college rideshare community that is more socially connected. It originated with the name Devi but was switched to be a shortened version of the designated driver. “We wanted to sell that designated driver kind of thing where it’s somebody that you trust coming to pick you up,” Brown said. And, the team said driving for Desi is an easy way to make money late on the weekends, a time when on-campus jobs are hard to come by as social events peak for the week. They added that test drivers have confirmed
it’s a good gig in the valuation stage. Desi follows the same regulations for hiring drivers across the industry, including a background check, a motor vehicle record check and three years of driving experience. In addition, a personal interview is conducted by the team, Redmond said. “That really sets us apart,” Redmond said. “We all looked at becoming drivers [on other apps] and were honestly scared at how easy it was to become drivers.” If the team succeeds in the tri-campus market, they hope to expand to colleges across the country that have similar characteristics to Notre Dame.w “It would be our main goal, of course, to get Desi everywhere,” Corrato said. “That would be phenomenal but we’re really targeting schools that are similar to Notre Dame in location, in size and type of students.” Contact Alysa Guffey at aguffey@nd.edu