SECTION B
Essay
125 marks
Technology as the silent factor in international relations.
WRITE IN
90 min
1,000–1,200 words
Reading the topic
The topic argues that technology quietly reshapes power between nations, often more than visible diplomacy or wars. The examiner wants analysis of how control over chips, data, nuclear know-how, cyber tools and digital platforms decides alliances, dependence and conflict.
ThesisTechnology has become the hidden currency of international power, so a nation's strategic autonomy now depends as much on its labs, fabs and standards as on its armies.
Dimensions to cover
- 1Security: nuclear, missile and cyber capabilities change deterrence without a shot being fired
- 2Economy: control of semiconductor supply chains and critical minerals creates new dependencies and leverage
- 3Diplomacy: technology partnerships and export controls now define alliances such as the Quad's emerging technology agenda
- 4Soft power: digital public goods offered to other countries build influence quietly
- 5Global governance: lack of rules on AI, cyber and space risks a technological arms race
Counter-view
- Some argue geography, economy and military strength still decide international relations, with technology merely a tool. The essay should show that technology now determines how those traditional assets are used
Open and close
- Open: Open with the fact that a phone in any Indian pocket depends on chips made in Taiwan, designs from the United States and machines from the Netherlands, a silent web of power
- Close: Conclude that the nations which shape technology's rules will shape the world order, so India must be a rule-maker, not only a user
Where marks usually go
- Writing a general essay on the benefits of technology with no international relations content
- Missing 'silent' and dwelling only on visible wars
- Listing every Indian tech scheme as in a GS answer instead of building an argument
Examples that fit
- HistoryIndia's Pokhran-II nuclear tests in May 1998 changed its strategic standing and led to sanctions and, later, the 2008 civil nuclear deal with the United States.Ministry of External Affairs; Strobe Talbott, Engaging India (2004)
- CaseThe Stuxnet malware, uncovered in 2010, damaged Iranian uranium centrifuges, showing how code can achieve what once needed air strikes.Kim Zetter, Countdown to Zero Day (2014)
- CurrentThe United States passed the CHIPS and Science Act in 2022, and India launched the India Semiconductor Mission in December 2021, as chips became strategic assets.CHIPS and Science Act 2022; MeitY, India Semiconductor Mission
- CaseIndia's Aadhaar, UPI and CoWIN-based digital public infrastructure has been offered to partner countries as a development model, a quiet form of technological diplomacy.Ministry of External Affairs; G20 New Delhi Leaders' Declaration (2023)