TechCrunch Global Affairs Project

Partnerships are key to scaling commitments from Biden’s Summit for Democracy

Developing credible local voices, entrepreneurs and innovators who can use emerging technologies to counter the authoritarian threats posed to their countries just may represent the best way to reach

Is tech hurting American soft power?

About 30 years ago, the political scientist Joseph Nye overturned convention when he suggested that states exert not just “hard” power — i.e., military might — but “soft” power as well. S

Taiwan’s bargaining chips?

While Taiwan undoubtedly enjoys its current semiconductor dominance and the leverage that gives it over both China and the U.S., neither feel comfortable with the status quo.

VC has a pivotal role to play in the climate fight, but it can’t do everything

The TechCrunch Global Affairs Project examines the increasingly intertwined relationship between the tech sector and global politics.

A ‘techlash’ with Chinese characteristics

This is the second in a pair of articles comparing the impact of the U.S. and Chinese tech crackdowns. In this piece, we examine how China’s “techlash” is driven by domestic politics.

China and US tech crackdowns set the stage for the next phase of competition

This is the first in a pair of articles comparing the impact of the U.S. and Chinese tech crackdowns. This piece considers the geopolitical consequences of each country’s respective approaches.

With all eyes on the Indo-Pacific, a burgeoning tech alliance is taking shape in the Euro-Atlantic

The TTC — if it takes root — could be a Euro-Atlantic answer to the Quad in the Indo-Pacific: an embryonic tech alliance and a building block for a new democratic tech arrangement.

Can Europe compete in the quantum ‘space race’?

Quantum information science has long languished in an academic corner of the tech sector. But recent advances mean that the sector has taken on geopolitical significance.

China’s next generation of hackers won’t be criminals. That’s a problem.

A spate of policies beginning in 2015 put China in a position to replace contracted criminals with new blood from universities.

Technology is transforming global treaties

Technology is rapidly changing how treaties are monitored and enforced — with profound implications for global governance and international law.

Digital Diplomacy 4.0: Return of the Jedi?

Like every industry or craft, diplomacy — a world once dominated by protocol and platitudes, maps and chaps — has already been hugely disrupted by digital technology.

What I learned building a fact-checking startup

Our thesis was clear: If technology could drive people to seek truth, facts, statistics and data to make their decisions, we could build an online discourse of reason and rationality.

Rational regulation is key to US competitiveness in the fintech race

With all the focus on the technology race between the U.S. and China, little attention has been paid to who will lead the innovation and control the technology behind international payments systems?

Internet shutdowns are a political weapon. It’s time to disarm.

Authoritarian governments from 21 countries have deliberately shut down internet service at least 50 times this year, and the problem is only bound to get worse.

Introducing the TechCrunch Global Affairs Project

Technology has never agreed with boundaries. Even the most detailed satellite snapshots of Earth show no borders. From the printing press to the airplane, the telephone to social media, technological

I founded Nest. Here’s how startups can help solve climate change

The best way to drive lasting change is to create opportunities where the right thing to do is also the easy thing to do.

Decoupling tech supply chains would do more harm than good

For a technology sector that would much prefer to focus on growth over geopolitics, the push for U.S.-China “decoupling” poses an inescapable threat. The fuzziness of the concept only increases th

Digital ID tech is moving fast. #GoodID will ensure it doesn’t break things

The Good ID approach involves following a framework of practices to design ID programs and policies that empower people to freely and safely engage with the digital world.