Blog Post 2: Technology as Political Change

John Borg

           

            Remote warfare is rapidly becoming one of our country’s most controversial debates. The use of unmanned drones as weaponry in order to minimize militant casualties is not only transforming the face of war, but also the politics of conflict in general. In Monday’s lecture, you posed the class with a question: does technology create social or political change or is it emblematic of it? I believe that innovative technology does maintain a solid influence on political change, yet I am not convinced that it can serve as the most prominent indicator.

In the Washington Post article, journalist Greg Miller describes in detail Obama’s “disposition matrix” initiative. An attempt to maintain a sense of security from international threats as our country’s more traditional conflicts continue to become less frequent, the disposition matrix will act almost as a database for suspected terrorists, sorting them into a kill or capture list and providing the American government with essential information about them. This political enactment has been achievable primarily because of the use of drones, which have been used to not only gather information, but kill many suspects as well. Obama’s administration has said it plans to increase the use of this measure, even hoping to plant it firmly in our military agenda so that future presidencies will continue his legacy.

It is not very hard to have an impact in politics. Politics, by its very nature, is reactive; if it were not, our political system would not meet the requirements of a democracy, which is toted as being highly representative of its citizen’s wants and desires. This is very common knowledge among all government and politics students. Our political figures require citizens to provide feedback and voice opinions in order for them to make appropriate and justifiable decisions. Politics is in a constant state of keeping up and changing to the environment that surrounds it in order to ensure effective policymaking.

However, despite this, I believe that technology does not necessarily dictate politics. It would be very ignorant of me to say that that technological advancements do not have a profound affect on the political sphere and in our societies. Yet, to say that it commandeers our government’s decision-making process and incites sweeping change would be, in my opinion, a gross overstatement. Other factors, including public opinion, ethical questioning from the international community, and economic and diplomatic concerns, all hold a very significant role in the legislative process and arguably more so than that of technology, which is still a rather new and growing facet of our culture. While technology’s role is undeniable, I have a hard time committing to the belief that it is one of the driving forces of change in our society. With Obama’s dispositional matrix, just because he has the technology to create the database does not mean he would have done it had other factors of the situation not been present, such as his responsibility as commander-in-chief to protect his nation’s citizens by continuing to combat terrorism.

I do believe, though, that we are well on our way to seeing this happen. As objects such as mobile phones, computers and even drones become integral parts of not just American society but the international system’s as well, technology will play a much more prominent role in global and domestic politics. However, while technology’s growing importance is indisputable, it can never serve as the sole predictor of political or social change.