City Research Online

Abstract

This thesis investigates whether transnational political, economic and technological trends have transformed the traditionally US-centric military industrial complex (MIC) into a node within a broader transnational techno-military hegemony. Drawing on a Gramscian framework, the study develops a three-dimensional model: (1) modern military technology (especially Fourth Industrial Revolution systems) as the coercive-ideological core; (2) the fraudulent US-centered national security milieu as the legitimating veil; and (3) symbiotic foreign-domestic interplay as the mechanism subordinating national sovereignty to supranational and corporate networks. The analysis employs a multi-method qualitative approach rooted in critical realism: qualitative elite biographical mapping and visualization of key actors (2000–2021); historical archival examination of early NATO institutions (MPSB); and three case studies testing the model - DIB/DIU (US corporate-state fusion), NATO ACT/Innovation Hub (supranational innovation), and the WikiLeaks exposures (organic crisis exposing contradictions). Findings demonstrate profound transnationalization: 4IR technologies from global tech giants (Microsoft, Amazon, Google, SpaceX) are embedded in US and NATO operations; elite revolving doors and knowledge networks sustain consent-coercion equilibrium; and ideological framing cloaks transnational priorities as national defense. The MIC has evolved from a national institution into a central node of US-led transnational hegemony, resilient through elite coordination and ideological repair yet vulnerable to crises of exposure (WikiLeaks). The model outperforms state-centric or economic accounts by centering elite agency, consent-coercion dynamics, and ideology. The thesis illuminates mechanisms sustaining global power and highlights potential counter-hegemonic vulnerabilities in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era.

Publication Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor J Political Science > JC Political theory J Political Science > JK Political institutions (United States) T Technology > T Technology (General) U Military Science > U Military Science (General)
Departments:	School of Policy & Global Affairs > Department of International Politics School of Policy & Global Affairs > School of Policy & Global Affairs Doctoral Theses Doctoral Theses

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