The Role of Emerging Technologies in National Security and Power of Countries: Opportunities and Threats

Science and technology have undergone significant transformations in the 21st century. The rapid growth of science in this century has given rise to a new type of technology known as emerging technology, which is constantly evolving and is closely linked to previous technologies. This study focused on three instances of emerging technologies, i.e., artificial intelligence (AI), 3D printing, and space technology. Governments have always been in endless competition with other actors to enhance their power and national security. Hence, the descriptive-explanatory method was used in this study to discuss the opportunities and threats of emerging technologies and find an answer to the following question: how do emerging technologies play a role in the security and national power of countries, and what are the threats and opportunities in this field? Since several factors can affect the process of gaining and promoting national security and power, the main objective of this study was to determine the effects of emerging technologies on the countries’ national security and power. The findings showed that emerging technologies, similar to other tools available to the international system actors, can bring their own opportunities and threats. Therefore, all the international system actors need to take advantage of existing capacities to turn all threats into opportunities and use them to the benefit of their national interests.