State Technological Power and Interstate Trade Relations and Conflict

This dissertation examines roles of state technology capacity in determining national power, whether and in what ways international trade affects between-state tech power transition, as well as how state tech power position influences their trade policy. This research argues that technology is an increasingly important component of national power in the modern era; state trade dependence on another is likely to cause unfavorable tech power transition; states tend to initiate trade conflict against its trade partner that is technologically catching up toward it, attempting to prevent further dyadic tech power convergence or even surpassing. A variety of analytical methods, including statistics, case studies, formal theory, and network analysis, are employed in this research, and the empirical findings appear supportive of the propositions.