Vagle was interested in studying military strategy when he realized during an internship at the U.S. Defense Department that “the economic domain is, in many ways, just as important if not more important to the competition that the United States is in with countries such as China. The costs of military conflicts are so unbelievably high that often states will choose to resolve disputes using economic weapons.”
Vagle’s senior thesis on the economic costs of a conflict between the United States and China revealed something that surprised both him and his faculty advisor, government professor Stephen Brooks: The two countries are not—as many assume—geopolitical equals. Fast-forward three years, and that thesis evolved into a book they coauthored, Command of Commerce: America’s Enduring Economic Power Advantage Over China. Published last year by Oxford University Press, it was highlighted in The Wall Street Journal’s China newsletter.
Vagle’s modeling revealed that if the two countries cut economic ties, it would damage China five to 11 times more than America. “We show that the United States and its allies would essentially revert to their standard levels of gross domestic product, while China’s GDP growth would be permanently suppressed,” he explains. “The United States has a lot of underrecognized leverage over China.”
Now a Knight-Hennessy scholar at Stanford pursuing a law degree and a Ph.D. in political science, Vagle says he relished the opportunities at Dartmouth to bounce ideas off professors and do hands-on research on international relations and economic forces. He adds that he and Brooks have briefed policymakers in Washington, D.C., on their findings.
“Ben has a rare combination of attributes, which makes for a really great academic researcher,” Brooks says. “You have to be creative, you have to be persistent, and you have to be organized. Think of a superlative, and it applies to him.”
Listen to a talk by Brooks and Vagle in the video below. Vagle begins speaking at 23:22.
