The new geopolitics of science and technology

Abstract

This paper examines the potential geopolitical shifts away from strategic superpower considerations based on geography, security, and commodities towards a new currency of knowledge, science, and technology. The authors note that the ideals and scale of these activities are international in scope, and, as a result, are being drawn into new foreign policy considerations. The authors argue that in these new policy frameworks the middle powers (such as Canada, Norway, and Switzerland) lend themselves well to a “soft power” model of international science and technology relations. They argue that middle powers are well positioned to meet the challenge of the new geopolitics of science and technology brought on by the restructuring of eastern European countries. The authors conclude by noting the risks inherent in the eastern bloc rush to market economies on the one hand and the constraints of steady state science for western economies on the other.