Abishur Prakash, thinker of Indian origin, geopolitical futurist and co-founder of the Center for Innovating the Future. He is the author of four books and his writings are regularly published in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, CNN and the BBC.
We quote some thoughts from the interview with him by Mandiner.
Geopolitics is about how nations fight for power, who is the big dog, who shoots first. However, this means not only global, but also regional and local power. For the previous seventy years, geopolitics depended on oil, gas, currency, exports and war, but today technology is taking the lead. I called this phenomenon the new geopolitics in my first two-volume book. It is not only important how nations use technology in their geopolitics, but also how political systems, societies, and business models change as a result. The rise of technology opens up new avenues for states striving for power, a good example of this is China.(...)
In my new book, it will be discussed that in the previous seventy years the earth was integrated along the same structures and institutions - such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Society for International Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) and others.
This is what we call globalization. The goal of globalization was to get rid of borders, so that every corner of the world would become more accessible, everyone would be more mobile, and large companies could install production parts here and there.
The engine of everything was the United States, so globalization can also be called Americanization.
As a result, the countries of the earth lost their sovereignty, that is, their borders, their independence, their freedom of action. However, technology allows them to establish new boundaries and assert new sovereignty.
At the bottom of it all, a new localism is hidden. The nations of the world do not want to depend on the US dollar, the Euro, the Indian IT sector. This is the new paradigm of localism. (…)
Today, nations want to assert data sovereignty. Senegal, for example, recently moved all its government data from foreign servers to domestic ones built by the Chinese for a lot of money. All this is commanded by the President of Senegal. Every country wants to control its own data. Is it good that the data controls us? Obviously not. Can governments do something about this? I'm sure you do.
Iceland can say, for example, that it is introducing data rights for its citizens. That would be great, but it wouldn't really affect the United States, Russia, China, Great Britain and other major powers. Smart governments localize their data. Tech companies already have the same power as governments and can even influence elections and societies. Unfortunately, the governments woke up late.(…)
I like what Viktor Orbán is doing. The Hungarian Prime Minister is not only fighting for the culture of his people, but also showing the world that governments need authority and territory, and that the EU cannot interfere in everything - borders are needed, and international and local interests must be balanced. Orbán is demanding sovereignty back, but so far he has not really taken advantage of the opportunities provided by technology, rather he has been a traditional real politician. Your future success depends on whether you use the possibilities of technology, and if so, how.
the full interview here
