Technology and the Human Lens

The Changing Nature of Power and Leadership

We may not have the flying cars or teleportation the movies promised, but technology shapes every aspect of our lives today–including international affairs and policy.

We see its effects on military conflict, governance, trade, culture, and the environment. It inundates us with noise that needs to be filtered. It redistributes the power of information and reshapes how we build relationships and work with others. It transforms how we learn and how we pass on what we know.

Yet technologies are defined by the people and the contexts that created them. Without context, the forces driving our era of rapid change may be misunderstood—and our responses miscalculated.

Training in international affairs and policy develops the ability to recognize the cultural, economic, social, and political forces at work in the world. Schools’ interdisciplinary curricula and diverse communities integrate differing perspectives. Programs distinguish themselves by their flexibility and adaptability, as well as the teamwork and leadership skills they build. They help students develop a toolkit to evaluate and process information on a global level.

As you search for the right degree, ask how the school incorporates technology into their ways of teaching and their course content. Ask what experiential opportunities will expose you to technology-based and traditional learning. Look at how they bring different voices into the conversation. Examine how they cultivate leadership qualities in students, as well as engage current policymakers, to build the future of international relations.

Even as artificial intelligence and other paradigmshifting technologies rework the mechanisms of discourse, conflict, economics, and geopolitics, they are still the product of their human creators. Students of international affairs and policy can ensure that a nuanced human lens is applied amid rapid technological change.