Tension and Technology: The Connection Between Politics and Science

By Mihaela Pranjkovic-Kovac, Science and Technology

It can be easy to divide technology and politics into two distinct categories, viewing their distinctions as black and white. This being said, it is important to not overlook the relationship the two of them share. Politics and science most definitely impact each other and the relationship between the two can take on different forms. Moments of geopolitical tension can impact the type of technology being made, the reactions to those technologies, etc. And so, there seems to be a relationship between the advancement of scientific technology and moments of high geopolitical tension in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

The First World War (WWI) is one of the most prominent examples of tension causing the emergence of new technologies. WWI saw developments in both the machine gun and rapid-fire field artillery gun. These weapons were used in trench warfare and resulted in the term “no-man’s land” (Showalter and Royde-Smith 2024), in reference to the fact that whenever a soldier would try to cross to an opposing trench, they would be shot by rapid-fire artillery. Because WWI had an issue with trench warfare causing stalemates, the need for a solution presented itself. This would come in the technological development of the tank. The armored vehicle with wheels to handle war terrain allowed for the stalemates and “unwinnable” battles to progress. WWI also saw the development of air traffic control to fulfill the need to receive information from planes in flight. It was in 1917, in fact, that a radio allowed for a human voice to connect from a plane in flight to a ground operator (Sass 2023). 

It follows naturally to look at the scientific developments in response to the Second World War (WWII). Largely taken for granted today, it is interesting to point out the connection between the development of penicillin and WWII. Before its development, infection could be caused by the smallest injuries that resulted from warfare. Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928, but it was in WWII that its mass production for medical purposes was developed by the United States. It became so crucial to manufacture penicillin for soldiers, that 2.3 million doses were produced for the D-Day landings alone. Another beneficial development of WWII used to this day is radar. MIT’s Radiation Laboratory initially wanted to figure out how to expand on the first practical radar system produced in 1935 to turn it into a weapon. Later, it was mainly used for enemy detection. Today, it is also used for non-war purposes such as detecting hurricanes (Little 2021). 

Of course, when discussing technological advancements in response to geopolitical tensions, the atomic bomb cannot be ignored. The Manhattan Project was spurred out of the United States’ fear that Nazi Germany would be the first to develop and use an atomic weapon. Eventually, the bomb was used by the United States against Japan, changing the nature of war forever (NPS 2024). 80,000 were killed instantly, and a mushroom cloud grew to 45,000 feet. One of the darkest technological developments in history was achieved because of a need created by political tension (The National WWII Museum 2020). How could science and politics ever possibly be divorced then? Such an invention was bound to create political reactions as well. This is demonstrated by the Cold War. The antinuclear movement sparked out the U.S. nuclear attacks on Japan and continued to grow throughout the 1960s. These movements were largely observed in the United States and Soviet Union, particularly out of fear from a nuclear attack during the Cold War, and Britain as well. The three countries would eventually sign the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in the late 1960s. This was not the end though, as the movement continued to grow during the energy crisis during the 1970s and remains to this day (Rothwell 2023). 

The Cold War likewise served as motivation for technological developments, despite not leading to any large-scale wars. In fact, the Cold War was largely a race between the United States and Soviet Union defined in terms of technological developments. It was sparked by tension created by technological developments, which then resulted in even more technological advancements. One of the breakthroughs during this time period was high-speed jet aircraft. The United States worked on new aerodynamic designs with the goal of increasing speed. This would  lead to the development of a jet engine that allowed for supersonic flight. The military, government, and aerospace industry all worked together in the United States in order to strengthen national defense, and it was in 1953 that the F-100 Super Sabre was able to reach supersonic speed (The National Air and Space Museum 2022).

The Cold War also produced technology that quite literally took us to new horizons through the Space Race. The Space Race stemmed from the competition between the United States and Soviet Union to build new rockets and developed into a race for space exploration. (The National Air and Space Museum). This led to the Apollo Program whose pinnacle was the Apollo 11 mission, the U.S. spaceflight that put man on the moon for the first time in July 1969 and demonstrated United States technological superiority (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica 2024). To emphasize, political tension between the United States and the Soviet Union led to an incredible feat of technological advancement that marked a victory for the United States in the moment, but truly was a victory for all of mankind.

Geopolitical tension creating a “need” for new technologies carries on even into the modern era. Perhaps one of the best exemplifications of this is the War on Terror. The War on Terror resulted from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States and pushed President George W. Bush to announce a plan to stop terrorists globally (The George W. Bush Presidential Library). It also led to programs such as the Defence Against Terrorism Programme of Work (DAT POW). DAT POW was initially focused on bettering technological solutions to curb the effects of terrorist attacks. It has expanded, but still uses technology to combat “… asymmetric threats… including countering unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS), biometrics, technical exploitation and countering improvised explosive devices…” (NATO 2024). The war on terror required a shift in surveillance as threats shifted from clearly defined nation-states to more ambiguous terrorist networks, leading to higher utilization of drones. The drone was increasingly used during the United States’ involvement in Afghanistan to both gather information and hunt for people. Another development was also internet monitoring and advancements in data collection as a form of data surveillance; this also heightened global political tensions at times through concerns of privacy protections (Wark 2021).  

All in all, there most definitely seems to be a relationship between moments of geopolitical tension and technological advancements. It seems that these tensions can often create a demand to be fulfilled later by technology, yet it can also work the other way around, with technological advancements causing tension. We can then ask what is pushing science in the  direction it’s going in, and the answer is often politics. It becomes important to consider that politics can push technology in both a progressive or destructive direction. Following this, it is crucial to note that the relation is not always destructive, such as with penicillin, while simultaneously understanding just how detrimental the relationship can indeed be, as with the atomic bomb. Politics and science should not be viewed as completely separate; we then lose a crucial understanding of history, and with it, a lesson that we can take with us into creating the future. 

References

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2024. “Apollo 11.” Britannica, September 11. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Apollo-11.

The George W. Bush Presidential Library. “Global War on Terror.” The George W. Bush Presidential Library. https://www.georgewbushlibrary.gov/research/topic-guides/global-war-terror. 

Little, Becky. 2021. “6 World War II Innovations That Changed Everyday Life” HISTORY, April 26. https://www.history.com/news/world-war-ii-innovations. 

The National Air and Space Museum. “The Space Race.” The National Air and Space Museum. https://airandspace.si.edu/explore/stories/space-race.

The National Air and Space Museum. 2022. “Speed and the Cold War.” The National Air and Space Museum, July 7. https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/speed-and-cold-war. 

Nato. 2024. “Countering Terrorism.” NATO, July 25. https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_77646.htm

The National WWII Museum. 2020. “The Most Fearsome Sight: The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima.” The National WWII Museum, August 6. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/atomic-bomb-hiroshima. 

NPS. 2024. “What is the Manhattan Project?” NPS, June 28. https://www.nps.gov/mapr/learn/manhattan-project.htm. 

Rothwell, Susan. 2023. “Antinuclear Movement.” Britannica, December 8. https://www.britannica.com/topic/anti-nuclear-movement. 

Sass, Erik. 2024. “12 Technological Advancements of World War I.” Mental Floss, March 7. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/31882/12-technological-advancements-world-war-i. 

Showalter, Dennis E. and Royde-Smith, John. 2024. “Technology of War in 1914.” Britannica, September 19. https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-I/Technology-of-war-in-1914.

Wark, Wesley. 2021. “The New World of Surveillance.” The Council of Councils, September 1. https://www.cfr.org/councilofcouncils/global-memos/911-effect-and-transformation-global-security