Power is no longer exercised only through armies and weapons, but also through data networks, chips, cables, and algorithms, Rob de Wijk warns in his recent lecture at TU Delft. This has direct relevance for a university of technology: in a world marked by increasing complexity and instability, innovations developed and designed here for civilian purposes can have strategic, sometimes unintended, consequences.
Rob de Wijk, founder of the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, is one of the Netherlands’ leading experts on geopolitics and international security. His core argument: the global balance of power is shifting rapidly, and the world is becoming more fragmented and unpredictable. States are redefining their interests, alliances are under pressure, and international norms are eroding.
In his recent books he also outlines how technology, energy systems, and infrastructure are becoming central to geopolitical power struggles. In the new world order, power is no longer exercised only through armies and weapons, but also through data networks, chips, cables, and algorithms.
This has direct relevance for a university of technology: innovations developed here can have strategic, sometimes unintended, consequences. Technologies designed for civilian purposes may also be used for control, surveillance, or warfare — the reality of dual-use. In a world marked by increasing complexity and instability — by a kind of geopolitical entropy — De Wijk offers an informed perspective. His lecture provides essential context for anyone working at the intersection of technology and society.
Following the lecture by Rob de Wijk there will be a discussion on the specific role and responsibility of Delft University of Technology against the backdrop of an unpredictable and rapidly changing world. Interlocutor Jeroen van den Hoven is university professor and full professor of Ethics and Technology at Delft University of Technology and editor in chief of Ethics and Information Technology.
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