The United States needs to ensure that national security and economic and humanitarian outcomes are designed and executed in concert in order to win in great power competition. The United States should learn from China's effectively matrixed investments, leveraging of Chinese firms, and security stipulations. The US can learn from what China has done well while ensuring these execution efforts are done in alignment with liberal values. The US can learn from both the economic benefits to its economy of using US firms, as well as the need to involve local partners, by requiring all development dollars to be contracted with US companies in partnership with a local firm for all goods and services, with exceptions on a case-by-case basis. The US can learn from and adopt lessons from China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), such as increased engagement of US firms, while avoiding the malign elements of China's activity, such as its debt traps. Security stipulations for both the investment itself and the personnel involved should be included in the planning of all future US development projects. The US can do better by adopting matrixed investments, leveraging US firms, and including security stipulations [8bba520a] [ebda33f9].