Great Power Politics in the Fourth Industrial Revolution - by Glenn Diesen (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Why and how will the fourth industrial revolution impact great power politics? Here, Glenn Diesen utilizes a neoclassical, global approach to great power politics to assess how far the development of AI, national and localized technological ecosystems and cyber-warfare will affect great power politics in the next century. The reliance of modern economies on technological advances, Diesen argues, also compels states to intervene radically in economics and the lives of citizens, as automation radically alters the economies of tomorrow.

Review Quotes

"This book asks some of the big questions of our time, above all the effect of technological change on social order and international relations. This ambitious and original study provides some of the answers, although it argues that we are only at the beginning of a period of fundamental and accelerating change to accustomed patterns of state-society relations, economics, geopolitics and, ultimately on citizenship and political order. Written from a 'global' perspective, this erudite and engaging work is essential reading for anyone interested in the future of humanity." --Richard Sakwa, University of Kent, UK

"In this thought-provoking book, Glenn Diesen offers a controversial though not completely depressing picture of the future interplay between technological progress and global politics. A challenging vision of how our world is going to change and what we should do manage the changes." --Andrey Kortunov, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council

"Glenn Diesen has accomplished a scholarly work in the classic mode of 'big picture' /'big ideas'. In a return, and I might say a rare success among attempts to return to the base/superstructure explanatory model, Diesen takes on and brings together two large phenomena, namely the revolution in technology and the change in global power relations. In this implicit adaptation of the argument of the revolution in the techniques and therefore the forces of production pressing against the relations of production, Diesen traces the linkage between the scientific-technological ('base') and the global political ('superstructure'). It is a superb work of Political Economy." --Dayan Jayatilleka, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation

"This is an extremely timely and. necessary book. As everyone was caught by surprise by the speed of non-reciprocity (TCP-IP, WWW, Internet of Things in large ecosystems) a new plane of value, away from territory, actualized in under fifty years. The opening phase of the Fourth Industrial Revolution has only just begun, and the main pillars of the world order are already crumbling, as Professor Diesen states. He asks the right questions: Will the great powers need to achieve "technological sovereignty" in the form of self-sufficient technological ecosystems? Will new technologies empower primarily the individual, corporation or state? To what extent will the Fourth Industrial Revolution influence the geoeconomic rivalry between the great powers? Professor Diesen states it is puzzling why international relations devote so little attention to technological innovation when technology is arguably the most important variable in great power politics and geoeconomics. This book is then timely, as the main power zones are waking up; potential regulation of Big Tech in the Unites States, the call for digital sovereignty with Team von der Leyen and the first cracks in the Chinese super well done integration at the lowest level but in a too obsessive compulsive way. If you own the house there is no need to know what all tenants are doing all the time. So all zones are looking for a better balance between centralization and decentralization. Might Russia have a productive and fitting ecosystem to achieve this?" --Rob van Kranenburg - Founder of #IoT Council network accelerator

About the Author

Glenn Diesen is Professor in the faculty of World Economy and International Affairs of the National Research University - Higher School of Economics in Moscow. His research focus is the geoeconomics of Greater Eurasia and the crisis of liberalism. Professor Diesen's latest books are The Decay of Western Civilisation and Resurgence of Russia: Between Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft (2018); Russia's Geoeconomic Strategy for a Greater Eurasia (2017); and EU and NATO relations with Russia: After the collapse of the Soviet Union (2015).