Quantum Technology Policies and the Emergence of a New Technological Order: Sovereignty, Dependency, and Strategic Positioning in Comparative Perspective: Brazil, India, China, South Africa, and the United States
Quantum technology — encompassing quantum computing, quantum communication, and quantum sensing — has emerged as a strategically significant domain of state investment and geopolitical competition, raising fundamental questions about the global distribution of technological power. This study examines how national quantum technology policies in the United States, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa reproduce or challenge structural inequalities in the international technological order. The central question is whether the emerging quantum order represents a genuine transformation of global technological power or a reconfiguration of hierarchical dependency under new leadership structures, with particular attention to China's documented extension of quantum satellite communication infrastructure to BRICS partner countries. The research adopts a Comparative Multiple Case Study design using a Most Different Systems Design (MDSD) approach, applying Bacchi's (2009) 'What's the Problem Represented to Be?' (WPR) discourse analysis framework to a corpus of approximately 100–150 primary policy documents across the five cases, supplemented by systematic secondary literature review and structured cross-case comparison. The analysis is grounded in a decolonial STI policy framework integrating postcolonial and decolonial theory, National Innovation Systems scholarship, and International Relations scholarship on weaponised interdependence. Findings are expected to demonstrate that Global South quantum programmes reproduce postcolonial knowledge hierarchies through research agenda convergence with Northern or Chinese priorities and structural hardware dependency, even where national policy documents assert technological sovereignty. The study contributes an original comparative dataset, advances theoretical integration across STI policy and decolonial studies, and produces policy-relevant evidence for Global South engagement in emerging quantum governance forums.