Who writes the code of the new world? - opinion
Dr. Emir Kremic argues that software code has become strategic infrastructure, governing finance, energy, defense, and AI. The central security question is no longer who can write code, but who controls it and what values it embeds. The piece examines the geopolitical competition over semiconductors, cloud infrastructure, and AI models, and the paradox open societies face between innovation and security.
Dr. Emir Kremic argues that software code has evolved from a technical language into the strategic architecture governing financial systems, energy grids, telecommunications, intelligence platforms, satellites, autonomous weapons, and artificial intelligence. The defining security question of the era is no longer who can write code, but who controls it and what values are embedded within it. The piece traces the historical development of computing from American universities and defense programs, noting that its strength came from absorbing global talent. It identifies China, Israel, Iran, and North Korea as significant centers of cyber power. Kremic emphasizes that while code has no ethnicity, it is not strategically neutral — the institutional environment surrounding the engineer determines security outcomes. The article cites NATO's January 2026 Alliance Digital Strategy, which places secure digital infrastructure and AI at the center of future defense posture, and the US intelligence community's 2026 Annual Threat Assessment, which details cyber threats from state and non-state actors. Israel's national cybersecurity strategy is presented as a model of coordinated digital defense. The piece concludes that the Western answer lies in trusted, auditable systems and human oversight, while warning against conflating security with ethnicity.