Tech Diplomacy: A Comprehensive Framework for Addressing Critical Technologies

Abstract

This paper discusses the problem of addressing critical technologies through tech diplomacy. The latter hasrecently emergedas a strategic response to manage the geopolitical consequences that are induced by rivalry over the control of critical technologies. Despite the growing importance of these technologies in global politics, the relationship between technological competition and diplomatic governance remains insufficiently conceptualized. The existing research often lacks an integrated framework connecting critical technologies to geopolitical competition, diplomatic mechanisms, and global governance. Moreover, most analyses focus on state competition while the influence of private technology multinationals remains underexplored despite their major global role. To address this gap, we propose a comprehensive Tech Diplomacy Framework (TDF)which addresses the diplomatic dynamics in international relations that these technologies generate. The framework is subsequently applied to LowEarth Orbit satellite internet as an illustrative critical technology to validate the proposed framework and its applicability to the whole range of critical technologies.

Keywords

Authors

1. 1ENP
2. 2Xona Partners
3. 3ENSSP