Soaring Hopes, Deepening Anxieties | Diplomacy

Technology defined the 2010-2019 decade and promises to drive the next into uncharted waters. Artificial intelligence, quantum computing, machine learning and bionics graduated from science fiction to practical reality. Digital technologies ruled, and data became the new resource. Technology has emerged as the currency of power and is beginning to transform geopolitics. Confronted by an unfamiliar terrain and still prisoner to outdated templates, states succumbed to nationalist and nativist urges, creating political fractures precisely when the world in the making demanded responses that transcend national boundaries and compel collaboration. Digital technologies became pervasive, permeating social processes and human interaction. The world has become densely interconnected and information flows are instantaneous.

This reinforces democracy through easy access to information even as it