International Relations Perspectives on Technology

Hassan Imam Essa Hassan

doi:10.33642/ijbass.v5n7p3

Abstract

This paper addresses the literature of International Relations approaches to technology as a form of power in international politics in two stages: First, the current IR approaches to technological power in international politics which includes instrumentalism, essentialism and Social Construction of Technology (SCOT). Second, the historical materialist approaches to technological power in IR which includes instrumentalism, essentialism and critical theory of technology.

Highlights

International Relations (IR) discipline emerged to prevent war
The irony is that the new idea of a universal community driven by technological development is threatened by such development as it provided the ability to demolish of the new community by the conflict of interest among its components (McCarthy 2015)
McCarthy clarifies his viewpoint saying: In relation to the Internet, and information communication technologies generally, these authors [Harrera and Williams] stress the crucial point that the structure of the technology itself is of central importance in enabling or constraining specific types of social action. This shifts our focus beyond the level of content beyond examining the impact of Facebook or Twitter on political events towards the underlying technological conditions that allow these applications to have an impact at all (McCarthy 2011a)

Summary

Introduction

International Relations (IR) discipline emerged to prevent war. The aftermath of the First World War was its inception when the technological development of destructive modern military weaponry materialized (McCarthy 2015). McCarthy clarifies his viewpoint saying: In relation to the Internet, and information communication technologies generally, these authors [Harrera and Williams] stress the crucial point that the structure of the technology itself is of central importance in enabling or constraining specific types of social action. This shifts our focus beyond the level of content beyond examining the impact of Facebook or Twitter on political events towards the underlying technological conditions that allow these applications to have an impact at all (McCarthy 2011a). Capitalist social relations are never theoretically integrated into the concept of momentum, even as capitalism is empirically central to his (and Hughes’) narrative (McCarthy 2015)

A Historical Materialist Approaches to Technological Power in IR

Conclusion