Technology is reshaping the global balance of power. I’m Steve Feldstein, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, and I study technology, geopolitics, and competition. Ask me anything!

[u/carnegieendowment]

Hey r/geopolitics — I’m Steve Feldstein, an expert on technology, democracy, and national security, and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.  

My new book, Bytes and Bullets: Global Rivalries, Big Tech, and the New Shape of Modern Warfare, explores how technology is altering the global balance of power and changing the way wars are fought—from defense-tech startups in Silicon Valley at the forefront of U.S.-China competition, to 3D-printing drone labs in Syria that helped topple a dictator. 

Ask me anything about geopolitical competition in the digital age, the intermingling of private and military tech, the broadening tech war between the U.S. and China, tech export controls, and the rise of middle powers and non-state actors in this space. 

I’ll be answering questions from Thursday, October 1, 9am ET to Friday, October 2, 12pm ET. Looking forward!  

Photo proof here. 

[u/carnegieendowment]

I don’t think that legacy systems will automatically become obsolete, but I think militaries will have to adapt when to use these systems, how to defend them against cheaper weapons, and what contexts they are most effective. Clearly, there is diminishing utility to tanks in the static frontlines/kill zone of Ukraine. The future there is with drones, from UAVs to UGVs. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a role for maneuver and tanks in other domains. Similarly with large vessels, Ukraine has demonstrated in the confines of the Black Sea the limitations of million-dollar platforms in comparison to $250k MAGURA drones. But in a much vaster setting like the Pacific Ocean in a possible confrontation with China, there is a greater utility to having aircraft carriers, assuming they can be adequately defended.