The Unfolding Technological Paradigm

The global strategic transition (GST) exists in history as well as in theory. It began with the technological paradigm shift, popularly known as the Industrial Revolution, in Britain in the late eighteenth century and subsequently spread throughout much of the world during the following two centuries. As a result, living standards have increased dramatically in a continuously expanding sector of the globe — the global strategic core. True, the distribution of the gains of the GST are unequal, but every region of the world has a higher real GDP per capita now than at the beginning of this process, and there is every opportunity for individual societies to improve their ranking in this respect. The purpose of this chapter is to chart the progress made by the GST since the last technological paradigm shift.