Technology and geopolitical power have a long and interconnected history. The nations that have harnessed new technologies to gain strategic advantages, and advanced their societies to new heights in the process, have been able to leverage their innovations to influence global affairs and shift power dynamics. Those that have failed to develop and adapt to these technologies have fallen behind at home and abroad. Eras of human history are often defined by technological breakthroughs, from the Iron and Bronze Ages to those of Sail and of Steam. As technology has advanced, it has usually been scientists who have foreseen these…