| Abstract [eng] |
The fifth-generation network (5G) is one of the main technologies of the 21st century, being considered as the main driver of digitization and one of the key elements in gaining strategic advantage, primarily in economic and technological fields. Therefore, 5G technology became an important object in strategic competition between the US and China. China’s ambitious strategy to implement 5G worldwide through its biggest technology company “Huawei” was largely criticized due to alerts regarding the company-enabled illegal and aggressive practices (e.g. espionage). Such practices triggered an unprecedent US response limiting China's and “Huawei's” influence both domestically and at the international level. Although 5G security issues have recently become increasingly politicized, so far the issues of 5G deployment have mostly been analyzed rather narrowly, not always linking to the global systemic changes. For these reasons, there is a potential to explore the role of 5G in the new era of great power competition and its geopolitical implications. Therefore, this Master’s thesis aims to systemically analyze the strategic competition between the US and China, for the deployment of 5G in European countries between 2018 and 2020. The analysis of European countries confirmed that 5G deployment process is geopolitically relevant: it is not just a choice between technological solutions, but mainly between different political regimes. Also it showed that the US can be considered as a defensive actor, who is pursuing an active policy to secure its strategic interests by forming a coalition against “Huawei” and the growth of Chinese influence. Such policy involved diplomatic efforts to attract strategic countries to the Western technosphere. Moreover, the cases of Lithuania, Germany and Hungary revealed that the US policy has only been fully successful in some individual states, but failed to influence European Union as a group, indicating that the diplomatic tools and threats are not enough in this technological competition. Consequently, without the US ability to build a technologically/ideologically based coalition worldwide and without the advancements in the 5G technology, security dilemma, competition and systemic changes in a long term will be intensified. However, current trends in international relations indicate that competition for technology should remain within the framework of diplomatic measures and international rules in the short term. |
