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Shyam Sankar, the Chief Technology Officer of the data analytics, cybersecurity, and national security firm Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR), delivered a stark warning about America’s global standing, asserting that the country has lost deterrence as a nation and is no longer feared by its adversaries. Check out PLTR’s stock price here. Sankar Says Geopolitical Events Have Reduced US Deterrence Sankar, who was recently commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, made the comments during an appearance on the New York Times podcast “Interesting Times with Ross Douthat” on Oct. 30. “Arguably for the last 10 years, we’ve lost deterrence as a nation,” Sankar said, pointing to a series of geopolitical events as evidence. “You look at the Crimea in 2014, the militarization of the Spratly Islands by the Chinese in 2015, the breakout capability of Iran on the bomb, and then a program happening in Israel two years ago… peace is not there right now.” He argued that this loss of military and industrial credibility is a primary driver for a new, patriotic realignment in Silicon Valley, which he sees as correcting a post-Cold War malaise. “Peace comes from deterrence, and we’ve lost deterrence,” Sankar stated. He attributed this decline to the “excesses of having won the Cold War,” which he believes drove the “wild engineering spirit” out of the defense sector and into other parts of the economy, “disconnected from serving the nation.” See Also: Top Analysts Divided On Palantir Ahead Of Earnings: 400x PE Is ‘Totally Justified,’ Says Tom Nash, Another Warns It Is ‘Three Times’ Overvalued Sankar On Modernizing Military With PLTR Tech Sankar, whose company is a major U.S. defense contractor, argued that this trend is now reversing. He cited the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a key moment that “brought a lot of clarity” to the tech industry, reminding it “that perhaps there is still evil in the world and that evil is not us.” His own direct commission into the Army Reserve, alongside executives from Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) and OpenAI, is part of this shift. Sankar, an immigrant whose family fled violence in Nigeria, said he was motivated by a desire to help modernize the military and ensure “our war fighters should have the best software.” He framed this new collaboration as a necessary step to re-establish American strength and prevent future conflicts. Investors Await PLTR’s Q3 Earnings PLTR was 1.83% higher ahead of its earnings, scheduled to be released after the closing bell on Monday. Analysts expect it to report earnings of 15 cents per share on revenue of $1.09 billion, as per Benzinga Pro. The stock has gained 166.62% year-to-date and advanced 384.11% over the year. It maintained a stronger price trend over short, medium, and long terms, as per Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings, with a poor value ranking. Additional performance details are available here. On Monday, the futures of the Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, and Dow Jones were trading higher. Read Next: Palantir Co-Founder Says AI Giants Face Endless Capital Hunt But ‘Afraid To Scare Their Investor' Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Image via Shutterstock
