US technology policy in the age of the US-China tech war

My DPhil thesis critically examines the United States’ technology policy in the context of the US-China Tech War. I investigate how the US approach to tech policy, particularly in relation to the tech private sector, has affected its standing in this ongoing rivalry. The thesis is divided into two parts, encompassing a total of three articles. The first part, represented by Article 1, delves into the decline in US influence among its allies, evidenced by European Union member states adopting data localisation policies targeting US tech companies. I argue that these policies represent a form of soft balancing against US technological dominance, reflecting allies’ waning confidence in US leadership in the tech war. Recognising the strategic losses experienced by the US in Part 1, Part 2 examines one possible explanation for the US decline in the tech war. Building on existing scholarship pointing to the lack of a consistent, unifying approach to tech policy, I examine US tech policy in two key areas: alliance management and private sector management. Article 2 characterises US alliance management as non-cooperative, revealing the challenges of successfully influencing allies to counteract Chinese tech companies’ presence in their own critical national infrastructures. Article 3 characterises the US approach to its private sector as laissez-faire, showing that US Big Tech companies operate under rational profit maximisation irrespective of their alignment with the US government. My findings reveal that the US’s non-cooperative approach to alliance management and its laissez-faire approach to private sector management have negatively affected its standing in the tech war. This thesis provides insights into the foreign policy dimensions of tech policy and demonstrates the analytical benefits of anchoring technology-related studies in theoretical frameworks derived from International Relations