PUBPOL 2120

Disruptive and Emerging Technologies: Policy and Practice

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2025-2026 Catalog.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), autonomous systems, robotics, and supercomputing, (to name but a few advanced technologies) present novel, disruptive, and often unforeseen challenges for policymakers globally. This full-semester course will explore the critical policy challenges faced by practitioners, with a focus on 4th Industrial Revolution technologies and their impact on national and international security. With great power rivalries intensifying, students will learn (including from guest experts) how technological innovation is no longer just an economic driver and societal ambition — it is central to a new age of great power competition and geopolitical tensions. Students will begin by exploring the theories of technological innovation and the history of geopolitics and disruptive and emerging technologies in practice. A focused case study approach is then adopted to present a week-by-week real-world analysis of the current pressing technological and security challenges faced by policymakers at a domestic and international level. As a means to prepare for the final assessments, students will produce a mid-term paper answering the question ‘How has the 4th Industrial Revolution impacted international peace and security in the 2020s?’ (8-10 pages of double-spaced text excluding tables, figures, and references). Students will then be required to conduct independent research on a technology or theme of their choice from the module. Towards the end of term, the students will present on this research through an in-class presentation, and write a policy report on the technology/theme of their choice from the module. The policy report should be written for a high-level policy audience (such as the UN Security Council, Department of State, Department of Defence, ECOWAS, and/or EU Commission) and focus on 'What are the key security challenges and potential societal opportunities presented by [insert the technology or theme chosen]?' The policy report should be 15-18 pages of double-spaced text excluding tables, figures, and references. Presentations: Each presentation will be 10 mins (max) and will focus on your chosen topic for the policy report (or a related topic). Groups of up to 5 people can work together on a single presentation. Each student is expected to contribute to the research and spoken presentation. Students will present in the final week of class.

Last 3 terms offered 2023FA

Learning Outcomes REF-FA25

• Recall key 4IR technologies and their characteristics relevant to international peace and security. List historical examples of disruptive technologies and their impact international policy.
• Summarize the foundational theoretical concepts of technology studies and principles of international peace and security. Explain how disruptive technologies are altering traditional approaches to international peace and security.
• Analyze case studies to demonstrate how specific disruptive technologies have influenced international security policy. Propose practical policy recommendations for mitigating the negative effects of disruptive technologies on society (domestically and internationally).
• Evaluate the ethical implications of using emerging technologies in the context of defense. Compare and contrast the impact of different disruptive technologies on international peace and security, applied to specific geopolitical contexts.

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