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The exploitation of geopolitical competition for the development of Kenyan connectivity.
We are pleased to present the paper by Luciano Pollichieni and Giovanni Caprara - geopolitical analysts at Med-Or - produced within the framework of the “Digital Geopolitics” project, promoted by Med-Or Foundation, in collaboration with the Center for International and Strategic Studies (CISS) of Luiss Guido Carli, thanks to the support of the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation.
Digital technology has emerged as a new arena for geopolitical competition among states. The issue of connectivity, understood as the deployment of satellite constellations and submarine infrastructures, has profound implications on the tools adopted by states to assert their sovereignty, triggering dynamics of cooperation or conflict based on respective national interests. Although digital connectivity has become the subject of in-depth studies in the geopolitical field, two gaps can be identified in the literature: the exclusion of certain geographic areas from the analysis of digital geopolitical competition and a fundamentally Eurocentric and Americentric vision of the phenomenon.
The paper examines the relevant case study of Kenya, a country at the center of rivalry between China and the United States and relevant to the strategic interests of Gulf countries. Through an analysis of existing literature, this work aims to demonstrate how Kenya is capable of exploiting competition between foreign powers to achieve its goals in digital development. Furthermore, the analysis of the Kenyan case allows us to reflect on the influential role that middle powers have assumed in the new multipolar context.
It is possible to download the full paper, published on the Luiss SoG website, at this link.
