THROUGHOUT history, there are many cases were technology and information was heavily guarded.
A few examples off the top of my head include Greek Fire, Chinese Steel and rutters of various kinds. These were concealed in one way or another because they conveyed critical advantage to the nation that invented them.
In the modern world, state secrets/technologies still exist, but compared to the past, we are more willing to share information. This openness towards information comes from the assumption that by sharing knowledge, humanity, as a whole, will be able to build a more enlightened global “community.”
That hasn’t really happened, and now, Western nations are beginning to regret their previously open attitude.
Consider the Russian Army for example. In the past, Russian munitions weren’t as precise as American ones, and the reason was that US-made weapons were built with semiconductors. Thanks to free trade and the free flow of knowledge, the Russians now have precision-guided weapons, and they’re using them to win in Ukraine. Ooops….
Another good example of this is the US’ recent moves to block semiconductor exports to China, but the Chinese already have semiconductor manufacturing capability. It may lag behind the US but they could have avoided that situation by not economically engaging with the Chinese in the first place, that is to say to treat semiconductors as a state secret.
So the cat is out of the bag, and, the idea that the free flow of information will lead to a free and open world has, I think, failed.
The only reason why the US and Western nations gave their know-how so freely is because they felt safe enough to do so. Now, that they are feeling a bit threatened, they may shy away from new tech transfer moving forward, and we will go back to the historical average with regards to information, which is that of state secrets and borders for technology./PN
