The global recomposition of power relations passes, first of all, through technological competition (in particular, between the US and China).
We report an interesting policy brief from Brookings, edited by Jessica Brandt, Sarah Kreps, Chris Meserole, Pavneet Singh, and Melanie W. Sisson.
There are four elements the authors emphasise on which the US and its allies should focus: talent; norms and standards; research and development; and trade, investment, and industrial policy.
Technological competition is what transforms the world. It is especially so in relation to the effects the technological revolution is having on the evolution of our personal and communal lives and the fate of democratic societies.
The decisive issue, from our point of view of risk analysis and increasing complexity, is the finalisation of technologies. We often speak of mass surveillance, a practice that does not only concern autocratic regimes (and has spread planet-wide with the pandemic).
While on the one hand we need to work so that in the technological competition we also open up paths for strategic dialogue (increasingly necessary), on the other hand we need to set up the principles of a ‘concrete ethics’ (the Brookings policy brief focuses on artificial intelligence) that helps decision-makers to politically govern a phenomenon, the technological revolution, that is and will be decisive for the historical crossroads between peace and war.
