At the end of the day, power is measured in terms of control over tangible infrastructure, not just digital networks. 

Many geopolitical analysts argue that artificial intelligence or another advanced technology will “define” this century. This may prove true in the long arc of technological rivalry and progress, but history reminds us that power ultimately follows the movement of goods, capital, and people. Transit corridors, not algorithms, determine which states connect markets and which become bypassed. The ability to move resources and project influence through infrastructure has shaped every major power competition from Rome and Byzantium to the Cold War. Today, that same principle is reemerging in Central Asia, where connectivity—railways, pipelines, highways, and ports—is becoming the actual currency of power.