Role of Science and Technology in International Affair?

            In international affairs diplomacy, technology and economics are the most important tools for any nation. Historically, science and technology (S&T) has been one of the main currencies for exchange and dialogue among human societies and sovereign nations. In modern times, it is emerging as an important instrument of techno-economic power that will shape the changing dynamics of international relations and global affairs. Diplomacy is the major instrument of dialogue between nations. It is the art to negotiate to protect one’s interests and promote one’s influence in international affairs. For every sovereign nation both technology and diplomacy are essential tools for managing international relations, the essence of which is protecting national security and projecting national power. 

        Throughout history of international affairs, S&T has been a defining factor in the evolution of security and war-fighting strategies among nations. These strategies have depended largely on the level of technology available to warriors and leaders. Today, technology has multiplied the human capacity to cause damage or destruction and hence, diplomacy has an enhanced role in preserving peace. As sovereign nations struggle to gain better position visà-vis other nations, with or without open conflict, the competing forces often get translated into ‘threats’, with more powerful parties often gaining the advantage. These are the advanced nations which define the global norms and set standards for others to follow, who often aspire for similar powers through indigenous techno-economic progress or by forming alliances to achieve their aims. Others, who cannot keep pace with the powerful, often become rebellious and seek certain nuisance value to climb up the ladder. In such dynamics, whether at the national or international level, it is the technoeconomic capability and diplomatic-military strategy that provide the real vital edge to a nation. Thus, in international affairs, technology and diplomacy will have to play the final defining role for every nation.

        S&T has played a key role in creating the globally connected modern societies of today. While automobile and aviation technology brought about revolutionary changes in speed and time of travel, electronics and communication technology created whole new capabilities in information and communication exchange. Advances in S&T have been driven by man’s aspiration for progress and peace. His innovative instincts and experimental skills have evolved with his pursuit of a secure environment, economic prosperity and defence from threats to his sense of well-being. As witnessed in the 19th and 20th centuries, advances in S&T have proved to be powerful drivers of change in global society as well as among nations in terms of economic, military, political and even cultural development. S&T has been so intrinsic to the process that it is often taken for granted and seldom recognised for its important independent identity and its intrinsic role in policy formulation, both at national as well as global levels.

     Of course, the progress among societies or nations using S&T with innovative imagination has not been equal and this has created significant inequality among nations; such that faster developing societies have acquired relative superiority over other slower developing societies. This has led to the need for protecting individual national assets and interests from competitors and adversaries. The resultant techno-economic divide has been growing since the industrial revolution. Technological superiority, combined with man’s ideology and ambition for power and control thus underscores the basic dynamics of interactions amongst societies and this indeed has become the very rationale for international relations and diplomacy.

          Advances in S&T have been used with great success for multiplying man’s defensive and offensive powers beyond local horizons. Technology has created lethal weapons of war and even weapons of mass destruction (WMD), albeit supposedly to provide the ultimate deterrence to war, so as to maintain peace. The cold war between the two superpowers for over 40 years was marked by relentless pursuit of S&T for maintaining the techno-military edge over the adversary. This in effect produced accelerated development of advanced technologies that shaped the political and military doctrines as well as the methods and means of waging war or preserving peace. Information technology has emerged as the backbone of the present ‘Knowledge Society.

            In the modern world of today, technology is so intimately embedded in national priorities and international equations that it has become an inseparable component of international relations and diplomacy. This book hopes to highlight this important relationship and discuss the increasing role of S&T in international affairs.

        The role of S&T in the present 21st century is far more relevant and yet its interplay in international affairs is almost invisible in the globalised society. In fact, much of the globalisation and consequent inter-dependency among societies and nations is because of the integration brought about by advances in Information-Communication-Technology (ICT). Technology has enabled modern civilisation to move towards a knowledge-based society where the information flow is instantaneous - far improved compared to a decade ago. More recently, S&T has been effectively used by nations for soft-power projections. In this changing paradigm, it is highly desirable to understand the importance of S&T dimensions of international relations and the changing dynamics of diplomacy among nations.

          Unfortunately, S&T advances have also led to unintended consequences of phenomenally high rates of development particularly in the past five decades, which have led to rapid depletion of earth’s resources and accelerated global warming with associated loss of biodiversity that will affect the future of human societies. Shortages of resources and concerns of environment are fast becoming one of the more serious global concerns that cannot be addressed without major interventions using both S&T as well as diplomacy for constructive and lasting international cooperation. Thus, the major challenge for 21st century diplomacy will be to prevent misuse of technology from harming mankind and environment.