Factor of force at the declining phase of the scientific and technical revolution

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of slowdown of scientific and technological progress in the military sector resulting from rising costs of developing frontier technologies. Nowadays, the military power of a state is a reflection of its economic and technological opportunities. However, before the start of the scientific and technological revolution, no such correlation could be found, and so, in the past, great European powers were at a relatively similar military and technological level. The power of a state was not so strictly limited by scientific and technological or economic potential of a country. Due to the fact that, even after the start of the scientific and technological revolution, progress in the sphere of military equipment retained its cyclical nature, a question arises: could the world revert to a position of relative technological stagnation that has become a norm during centuries of human development? And if so, what would this mean in terms of big politics and grand strategies? Could this fact play in favour of the countries that challenge the global hegemony of the United States? Will they receive a chance to close their relative gap in the sphere of technology, how and within what timeframe?

Keywords

• progress
• cyclicality
• scientific and technological revolution
• slowdown
• potential
• economy
• politics
• russia
• china
• united states