Technology and the 21st Century State

Eurasia Group is a political risk consulting and advisory firm. The objective of this Capstone was to analyze three critical technological trends and their impacts on political stability: (i) the rise of information and communications technology (“ICT”); (ii) coming automation to service sectors, and (iii) the waging of cyber warfare. To start, the Capstone addressed the following key questions:

• What is the definition of the state in 21th century?
• How has technology impacted it?

Focusing on these five countries— United States, China, Iran, India, and Nigeria—the Capstone team researched the impact of technology on the state’s control over society, trends related to technology, and provided projections for the future.

Based on their findings, it can be said that in the US, a developed democracy, the technological forces behind the 2016 Presidential election weakened the legitimacy of the state. On the other hand, China and Iran, non-democratic states, have seen their governments dealt well with the impact of ICT and kept its legitimacy with respect to society. The case studies in India and Nigeria, democratic and developing states, show diverging evidence for how technology affects the relationship between the state and society.