AIF Insights No. 38 (2025) | Science as Shield: How Small States Survive Through Cyber, AI, Math, and Physics

This article argues that for small states, survival in an era shaped by great power rivalry, war economy dynamics, and artificial intelligence depends on scientific depth rather than size or rhetoric. It contends that mathematics, physics, and cyber capability form the core pillars of industrial capacity, technological sovereignty, and national security. Drawing on earlier Cambodian policy papers and contemporary global trends, the analysis shows how neglecting these foundations leads to structural dependence, strategic vulnerability, and silent erosion of sovereignty, especially as AI amplifies existing scientific inequalities. The article concludes that science is no longer a long-term development goal but an immediate strategic necessity, and that for small states, building robust scientific ecosystems is the decisive condition for autonomy and survival in the modern international system.