Abstract/Description/Artist Statement
The Twenty-First Century's Shift in Advanced Technologies as Instruments of Economic Growth to central pillars of geopolitical competition States are increasingly using technologies such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing, biotechnology and digital infrastructure not simply as commercial assets but as strategic resource bases to enhance their national security and global influence. This paper will examine how innovative systems have been incorporated into broader geopolitical competitions creating "strategic knowledge politic”. This paper dwells on International Political Economy (IPE), Security Studies and Innovation Theory literatures to analyze the changing concepts of technological sovereignty and their implications for the global order. The paper suggests that technological capabilities are today becoming an equal factor in determining the power of states as were military capabilities in the past. This paper through comparative analysis of the U.S., China and the EU demonstrate how the major powers are reconstructing industrial policies, supply chains and research ecosystems in order to ensure that they can maintain strategic autonomy. In this context, the paper also finds that technological decoupling, innovation nationalism and digital protectionism are transforming globalization into a competitive and fragmented system. Therefore, the paper concludes that the battle for technological sovereignty will define the new era of twenty-first-century geopolitics and it will have long term impacts on the issues of development, democracy and international stability.
Faculty Advisor/Mentor
Prof. Regina Karp
Faculty Advisor/Mentor Email
rkarp@odu.edu
Faculty Advisor/Mentor Department
Graduate Program in International Studies (GPIS)
College/School Affiliation
College of Arts & Letters
Student Level Group
Graduate/Professional
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Strategic Knowledge Conference paper
Included in
Defense and Security Studies Commons, International Relations Commons, Other International and Area Studies Commons, Peace and Conflict Studies Commons
Strategic Knowledge: Innovation, Technological Sovereignty, and Geopolitical Competition
The Twenty-First Century's Shift in Advanced Technologies as Instruments of Economic Growth to central pillars of geopolitical competition States are increasingly using technologies such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing, biotechnology and digital infrastructure not simply as commercial assets but as strategic resource bases to enhance their national security and global influence. This paper will examine how innovative systems have been incorporated into broader geopolitical competitions creating "strategic knowledge politic”. This paper dwells on International Political Economy (IPE), Security Studies and Innovation Theory literatures to analyze the changing concepts of technological sovereignty and their implications for the global order. The paper suggests that technological capabilities are today becoming an equal factor in determining the power of states as were military capabilities in the past. This paper through comparative analysis of the U.S., China and the EU demonstrate how the major powers are reconstructing industrial policies, supply chains and research ecosystems in order to ensure that they can maintain strategic autonomy. In this context, the paper also finds that technological decoupling, innovation nationalism and digital protectionism are transforming globalization into a competitive and fragmented system. Therefore, the paper concludes that the battle for technological sovereignty will define the new era of twenty-first-century geopolitics and it will have long term impacts on the issues of development, democracy and international stability.