As we enter an increasingly multipolar world, traditional definitions of conflict, power and war are being fundamentally reshaped by rapid technological advancement, expanding competition beyond conventional battlefields into cyberspace, data infrastructure, AI and digital supply chains. In this evolving landscape, both state and non-state actors are leveraging technological capabilities to assert influence, disrupt adversaries and redefine deterrence, with intensifying competition between the US and China illustrating how control over critical technologies has become central to geo-political strategy. This year’s edition of the Fletcher Security Review seeks to explore how emerging technologies are transforming the nature of power and conflict and the following questions aim to unpack these shifts and interrogate how we are navigating this era.

1. Much of the post-Cold War security architecture was designed around a unipolar moment - American technological supremacy, NATO interoperability standards, and the assumption that the United States could dominate the cyber domain much as it dominated the air and sea. Now, as we are moving into what many scholars describe as an emerging multipolar order, China has been fielding offensive cyber capabilities that rival or exceed those of many Western states and Russia has demonstrated a willingness to use cyberattacks as instruments of coercive statecraft short of war. Do you think the strategic logic of cyber operations has fundamentally changed? Do you believe the doctrinal frameworks the United States developed during the post-Cold War period are still adequate for the current environment?