Bachelor of Science in Political Science, Security, and Technology (BS PSST)

Political science and international relations have at their heart investigations of governance and power.  The field traditionally focuses on state-focused power and governance, an important and well-established line of inquiry that addresses concepts like democracies vs. autocracies, the balance of power, the military balance, and nuclear deterrence. 

But other types of power are also important. These include individual power (rights, privacy, representation, freedom of expression), nonstate group power (nongovernmental organizations, the leverage of civil war factions, insurgencies and terrorist groups,), economic power (the strength of commercial entities, processes of innovation), narrative power (the power to lead, inspire, attract alliances), normative power (ethics, morality, the just war tradition, human rights, domestic and international law), and geopolitical power (e.g., US-China, Russia/NATO/Ukraine, China-India, international organizations like the UN, WTO, or regional rivalries in Antarctica, Africa, Asia, Latin America and even Space). For the first time in centuries, all of these varieties of power are being rapidly affected, even dramatically altered, by new technologies.

Technology has always played a role in human society, but that role has never had the scale, scope, and speed that it has now. For example, the role of the telegraph, the railroad, and the invention of high explosives dramatically affected state power in nineteenth century Europe. These general-purpose technologies spread throughout the world by the end of the century, hastening the arrival of the First and Second world wars.  

By contrast, global processes of technological innovation and diffusion are happening today in months or years rather than centuries. We must understand today’s rapid processes if we are to reduce risks, enhance benefits, promote global stability, and protect the future of humanity. That is the purpose of this major.

Political Science, Security, and Technology is available as a primary major, additional major, and minor.*

Degree Rationale

The major in Political Science, Security, and Technology takes a social science (not technical) approach to studying emerging technologies that affect war and peace. There is no better place to study security and technology than Carnegie Mellon University, a thought leader in global and national security issues, policies, and strategies related to digital technologies.  CMU students are uniquely poised to influence the future, with cutting-edge research happening across campus in all the relevant technological areas--e.g., machine learning, cybersecurity, robotics, big data, neuroscience, human-computer interaction, human enhancement, synthetic biology, and various types of artificial intelligence.  

In this course of study, Carnegie Mellon undergraduates learn how to analyze the political, economic, social, and ethical dimensions of new technologies, equipping themselves to contribute to vital political debates and influence technological developments in the public interest.

The lesson of the past few years is that the pace of technological change will only increase, and its impact on the future of humanity will also grow. In particular, the geopolitical implications of various forms of artificial intelligence are well along, including their impacts on work, health, environmental protection, and especially conflict. The ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and elsewhere reflect the role of autonomous weapons, loitering munitions, UAVs, voice-cloning tools, and open-source intelligence driven by machine learning tools.

The full effects of these technologies are some years away, but our students must be equipped to shape and adapt to them. Most serious among these effects will be the impact on war and peace, what it means to be human, patterns of economic prosperity, and the future of global stability.

Students in this major read, employ, and create evidence-based research that addresses and shapes the future of technology in national and international security.  In choosing their electives, students have the opportunity to emphasize either the international or domestic American aspects of this topic. Challenges posed by digital technologies affect people of all political parties, in the United States and throughout the world, especially in democracies. 

Methodological Training

Our goal is to educate students who emerge knowing not only about the risks and benefits of new technologies in historical context, but are also able to frame broad questions and use political science methods, theories, and approaches to address them.

We teach a range of methodologies to prepare our students for the challenges of the 21st century, both within the United States and abroad. These include introductions not only to traditional political science approaches (such as comparative case studies, archival analysis, database construction, and regression analysis), but also to newer tools such as visual geospatial mapping, sensor-driven machine learning, and the employment of large language models.  

Our budding political scientists may not personally build new technological tools (as they do in other parts of Carnegie Mellon University); but they’ll know how to use them effectively to forecast problems, identify potential backlash, and answer important questions. They’ll design research projects that address political, ethical, and strategic questions related to security and technology, in everything from voting in democratic elections to robotic targeting during warfare, in both the United States and abroad.