The New Power Stack: How Middle Economies Turn Technology into Sovereignty

For much of the last decade, global technology discourse has followed a predictable script. Innovation is assumed to originate in a handful of advanced economies, commercialised at scale, exported globally, and governed unevenly after deployment. Middle powers, in this framing, are positioned as adopters rather than authors; consumers of technology rather than architects of strategy.

That framing is no longer accurate, and increasingly, it is strategically dangerous.

As geopolitical fragmentation accelerates, supply chains regionalise, and technological systems become instruments of statecraft, emerging technologies are no longer neutral tools of productivity. They are levers of sovereignty, resilience, and influence. For middle-income and non-aligned economies, the question is not whether to engage with advanced technologies. It is whether they will deploy them with strategic intent.

Technology adoption without geopolitical clarity deepens dependency. Technology deployment aligned with national purpose strengthens authorship.

This week, In this edition, we frame that shift in terms of recent global AI and tech developments, and connect them to deepening strategic agency for middle powers:

• AI governance taking shape in the Global South: India hosted the India AI Impact Summit 2026, the first major global AI summit in a developing country, centring human-centred, inclusive AI principles and signaling the South’s ambition to shape global tech policy (AI Summit news, Feb 16–20, 2026).

• Emerging geopolitical technology commitments: The New Delhi Summit drew leaders including French President Macron and UN officials, emphasising that AI must be inclusive, equitable, and accessible, underscoring that technology must serve social purpose, not just profit
  

•  AI’s dual role in state capacity and societal tension: Beyond governance dialogues, risks such as AI’s growing role in cybersecurity threats and internal policy challenges highlight how digital systems now intersect with social stability and institutional legitimacy.
  

• Innovation in AI development and infrastructure: Latest advances in adaptive AI agents, multimodal reasoning systems, and enterprise AI reliability push the frontier, underscoring why foundational infrastructure, not siloed adoption, is essential

• Early geopolitical signals in space and data: Broader technological trends, including evolving global efforts in AI infrastructure and orbital computing. They hint at new layers of strategic infrastructure beyond traditional markets.

BEYOND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Beyond Artificial Intelligence: The Real Tech Stack of Power

Artificial intelligence continues to dominate global headlines, and rightly so. The India AI Impact Summit 2026, convened in New Delhi from 16–20 February, brought together heads of state, multilateral institutions, and leading technology executives, marking one of the most significant AI governance gatherings hosted in the Global South (India AI Impact Summit 2026, 16–20 Feb 2026). The summit’s closing communiqués emphasised inclusive, human-centred AI principles and called for governance frameworks that prioritise equity, access, and societal outcomes over narrow competitive advantage (New Delhi Summit Statements, Feb 2026).

At the same time, reporting across global policy circles highlighted intensifying debates around AI safety, regulatory alignment, and cross-border standards, reinforcing the reality that AI governance is no longer a purely technical discussion; it is deeply geopolitical (Global AI Governance Coverage, 18–22 Feb 2026).

Yet an AI-centric worldview risks obscuring the broader technological ecosystem that ultimately determines national leverage.

AI systems do not function in isolation. Their effectiveness depends on reliable energy systems, high-capacity data infrastructure, trusted governance mechanisms, resilient cybersecurity architecture, and institutional coherence. Recent coverage of AI infrastructure expansion, including investments in compute capacity and sovereign cloud strategies underscore that without foundational capacity, AI deployment risks reinforcing dependency on external providers and foreign regulatory regimes (AI Infrastructure Reporting, 17–21 Feb 2026).

Without these foundations, AI adoption becomes symbolic rather than transformative. Deepening reliance on proprietary platforms, semiconductor supply chains, and governance norms shaped elsewhere.

For middle powers, the more consequential opportunity lies beyond frontier model development. Emerging domains such as advanced energy systems, biotechnology, digital public infrastructure (DPI), space-enabled services, and cybersecurity resilience offer more accessible and strategically aligned entry points. Global reporting this week on energy-AI interdependence, biotech innovation pipelines, and sovereign digital identity expansion highlights how these adjacent systems are increasingly recognised as multipliers of state capacity rather than secondary sectors (Technology Policy Coverage, 16–22 Feb 2026).

These domains align more directly with domestic imperatives, job creation, food security, industrial modernisation, climate resilience, and regional integration. They offer tangible pathways toward technological sovereignty because they embed capability across supply chains, infrastructure, and institutions, not merely at the application layer.

Middle powers do not need to dominate frontier AI research to shape the technological future. They need coherent ecosystems that integrate emerging technologies into national development agendas, anchored in long-term economic diversification and institutional durability.

This broader stack: energy, biotechnology, space systems, digital public infrastructure, and cybersecurity is where agency over technology evolves into strategic power.

THE ECONOMIC MULTIPLIERS
Energy, Biotechnology, and Space as Economic Multipliers

Energy remains the original geopolitical currency, but its nature is evolving rapidly. Reporting during 16–22 February 2026 highlighted intensified global competition around green hydrogen corridors, grid-scale battery storage deployment, and small modular reactor (SMR) regulatory acceleration in Europe and Asia (Global Energy Transition Coverage, 17–21 Feb 2026). These developments underscore a broader shift: energy systems are no longer simply about supply security, but about industrial positioning.

Grid-scale storage, distributed renewables, and hydrogen infrastructure are reshaping how states design industrial policy and regional trade relationships. Countries investing early in these systems are not merely decarbonising, they are restructuring manufacturing ecosystems and supply chains around energy reliability. Middle powers that strategically align energy innovation with industrial policy can transition from commodity exporters to orchestrators of energy stability, exporting resilience rather than raw inputs.

Biotechnology reflects a parallel transformation. Coverage during the same week emphasised accelerated investment in bio-manufacturing, precision fermentation, and climate-resilient agriculture technologies as governments respond to food insecurity and demographic pressure (Global Biotech Policy Reporting, 16–20 Feb 2026). Agricultural genomics and bio-based manufacturing are increasingly framed not only as innovation frontiers but as supply-chain resilience mechanisms.

For states grappling with climate volatility, population growth, and agricultural vulnerability, biotechnology is not a niche sector; it is a structural resilience strategy. It intersects directly with food sovereignty, public health systems, and export diversification.

Space technologies, long associated with superpower rivalry, are also becoming more accessible. Recent reporting on expanding small-satellite constellations and sovereign Earth-observation initiatives illustrates how mid-sized economies are leveraging space-enabled data for climate modelling, logistics optimisation, and border monitoring (Space and Satellite Industry Coverage, 18–22 Feb 2026). These developments demonstrate that space capability is no longer purely symbolic. It has become operational, and economically strategic.

Small satellites and Earth-observation systems enable middle powers to deliver regional public goods, including disaster monitoring and agricultural optimisation, while simultaneously building exportable service platforms. In this context, strategic value lies not only in ownership of assets but in orchestration, the ability to integrate energy systems, biotech innovation, and space-based services into coherent industrial and diplomatic frameworks.

ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION
Technology, Social Infrastructure, and State Capacity

Economic diversification cannot be sustained without social legitimacy.

Recent global AI governance discussions have increasingly emphasised that technological deployment must reinforce public trust and institutional credibility (AI Governance Coverage, 16–20 Feb 2026). This is where digital public infrastructure (DPI) becomes geopolitical rather than administrative.

Digital identity systems, interoperable payment rails, and secure data exchange frameworks are not simply modernisation tools. They shape how citizens interact with the state. Reporting this week on digital identity expansion initiatives and cross-border payment interoperability highlights how governments are linking DPI directly to financial inclusion and fiscal efficiency strategies (Digital Infrastructure Reporting, 17–21 Feb 2026).

Countries that deploy DPI effectively tend to see measurable improvements in tax collection efficiency, financial inclusion, and service delivery transparency. When citizens can authenticate securely, transact seamlessly, and access benefits without friction, legitimacy compounds. Institutional trust is reinforced through reliability.

Conversely, poorly governed digital systems fragment societies, erode trust, and widen inequality.

Cybersecurity has similarly evolved into social infrastructure. Coverage during 16–22 February 2026 emphasised the expanding dual-use nature of AI in cyber defence and cyber offence, underscoring heightened concern among regulators and enterprise leaders about AI-augmented threats (Cybersecurity Industry Analysis, 18–22 Feb 2026). The line between digital security and political stability continues to narrow.

As societies digitise elections, financial systems, healthcare records, and supply chains, cyber resilience becomes foundational to democratic continuity and investor confidence. Cyber instability undermines governance credibility and economic stability simultaneously.

Middle powers that treat cybersecurity as a public good embedded into national strategy, workforce planning, and institutional reform, will be better positioned to navigate persistent digital contestation. Technology, in this context, is no longer simply about efficiency. It is about endurance.

ADOPTION & AUTHORSHIP
From Adoption to Authorship: A Strategic Imperative

The most consequential shift required of middle powers is conceptual rather than technical.

Global AI reporting throughout 16–22 February 2026 reflected an accelerating arms race in model performance, compute infrastructure, and regulatory positioning (Global AI Industry Coverage, 16–22 Feb 2026). Yet beneath these headlines lies a deeper question: what strategic purpose do these deployments serve?

Too often, technology policy begins with tool selection; AI, blockchain, quantum computing, 5G, resulting in fragmented initiatives disconnected from national economic priorities. Adoption without alignment produces dependency.

A more durable strategy begins with a different inquiry: to what end?

How does this technology create employment?
How does it strengthen social cohesion?
How does it enhance regional influence?
How does it reduce structural vulnerability?

Recent summit dialogues have increasingly emphasised that AI and emerging technologies must be embedded within national development strategies rather than pursued as standalone innovation trophies (Policy Commentary, 19–22 Feb 2026).

Technology strategy must therefore be anchored in employment generation, institutional trust, industrial diversification, and geopolitical positioning. Without that anchor, adoption becomes imitation.

This shift demands a new leadership mindset. Ministers, regulators, and CEOs must think less like technology consumers and more like systems architects. The objective is not to compete directly with global technology giants in frontier R&D alone. It is to integrate emerging technologies into coherent national strategies aligned with domestic capability and regional ambition.

Authorship requires intentionality.

THE GLOBAL SOUTH COLLABORATION
The Rise of Global South Technology Alliances

One of the most underappreciated developments in recent geopolitical reporting has been the growing emphasis on Global South collaboration in technology governance and infrastructure (Global South Tech Cooperation Coverage, 17–22 Feb 2026).

Joint research initiatives, shared regulatory standards, interoperable digital platforms, and co-investment in R&D are increasingly being framed as mechanisms to reduce dependency on dominant technological ecosystems. Discussions emerging from multilateral forums this week have underscored the potential for climate-tech coalitions, regional health innovation corridors, and cross-border fintech interoperability frameworks to strengthen collective bargaining power (Multilateral Technology Dialogue Reporting, 18–22 Feb 2026).

These alliances are not merely technical partnerships. They are geopolitical alignments.

Where shared challenges exist, public health, climate adaptation, agricultural resilience, financial inclusion, cooperative technology deployment reduces duplication of effort and amplifies regional leverage. Over time, these networks may prove as strategically consequential as traditional security alliances.

They represent a shift from dependency toward co-authorship..

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