A new meme is quietly developing about the danger of ‘killer robots’.
The Renewable Proliferation Treaty
by Jamais CascioThe Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NNPT), originally promulgated in 1968 and entering into force in 1970, has three key provisions: that nuclear weapon-free signatory states refrain from developing nuclear weapons; that signatory states with nuclear weapons work to disarm; and that signatory states remain free to develop nuclear energy technologies.
Battlefield Earth
by Jamais CascioIt’s only a matter of time before the world’s militaries learn to wield geo-engineering of the climate as a weapon.
Review of Military Nanotechnology
by Mike TrederDeeply researched and carefully worded, Military Nanotechnology is an overview of an emerging technology that could trigger a new arms race and gravely threaten international security and stability.
Autonomous Killing Machines
by Kristi ScottChristopher Csikszentmihalyi’s concerns about military robotics in Engineering Politics are valid. They are why I got involved with the IEET in the first place. But his effort to communicate to the general public comes up a bit short.
Sovereignty and the problem of political relativism: Why we need a world without borders
by George DvorskySeveral days ago I argued that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad should have been arrested upon his entry into the United States. I wanted to show how absurd it was that this political criminal is allowed to travel at will and be afforded diplomatic courtesies.
Armed Robots Make History
by Mike TrederFor the first time in the history of warfare, robots with guns have been deployed.
On the Future of Warfare
by Mike TrederOn July 30th I gave an hour-long presentation on “Nanotechnology and the Future of Warfare” at the World Future Society’s annual conference. You can view the presentation here.
Humans and Violence
by Mike TrederHarvard psychology professor Steven Pinker asserts that: “Violence has been in decline over long stretches of history, and today we are probably living in the most peaceful moment of our species’ time on earth.”
Journal of Evolution and Technology June 2007, 16(1): Contents
Robert Freitas 
"The Ideal Gene Delivery Vector: Chromallocytes, Cell Repair Nanorobots for Chromosome Replacement Therapy"
(pgs 1-97)
Robin Hanson, James Hughes, Michael LaTorra, David Brin, Giulio Prisco
The Hanson-Hughes Debate on "The Crack of a Future Dawn"
(pgs 99-126)
An Ravelingien
“Xenotransplantation and the harm principle: Factoring out foreseen risk”
(pgs 127-149)
David Koepsell
“Individual and Collective Rights in Genomic Data: Preliminary Questions”
(pgs 151-159)
Woody Evans
“Singularity Warfare: A Bibliometric Survey of Militarized Transhumanism”
(pgs 161-165)
Milan M. Cirkovic
Book review: Justina Robson’s Natural History
(pgs 167-170)
Open Source with a Bullet: John Robb’s Brave New War
by Jamais CascioThe U.S. is Microsoft. Al Qaeda is Linux.
Russia and Nanotechnology
by Mike TrederOf the many questions that must be answered about molecular manufacturing, one of the most important is: Who will attain the technology first?
The End of Conventional War
by Jamais CascioFew would dispute that the American military is, far and away, the most powerful conventional armed force on the planet, even as depleted as it is by the Iraq war. At the same time, few would dispute that this military force is, and by all signs will continue to be, insufficient to quell the insurgency in Iraq.
Poll: Should there be a standing U.N. military force to enforce world law?
Grrr. I’m a strong supporter of strengthening (and democratizing) the United Nations, including the construction of a UN army. But it doesn’t look like most of you agree.
New poll: We become “posthuman” with...?
Book review: Mind Wars by Jonathan D. Moreno
by Moheb CostandiThe U. S. government has long understood that its military, hyperpowerful as it is, is woefully inadequate for present and future conflicts. Hence, in recent years, the U. S. Department of Defense has sought a radical transformation of its armed forces, with the overall aim of having an agile and technology-driven army that is better prepared for multiple, simultaneous wars than is the cumbersome leviathan of today.
Nukes and Nanotech
by Mike TrederAt the “Future WMD” symposium I attended on Monday, I came across an interesting paper written by Peter Hayes, executive director of the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainable Development, which is described as “a non-governmental policy-oriented research and advocacy group.”
Future WMDs
by Mike TrederYesterday I attended and took part in a “Future Weapons of Mass Destruction” symposium in Arlington, VA, sponsored by the Stanley Foundation and the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. One of the most interesting outcomes was a general agreement that the WMD acronym probably should be broadened to included Weapons of Mass Disruption as well as Destruction.
Nano-Health, Nano-War
by Jamais CascioLots of nano-news over the past week or two—and most of it good!
Welcome to the Age of Weapons Containment
by George DvorskySoon after the end of the Cold War, U.S. President George H. W. Bush declared that a new era had opened up in which he hoped that his country would become a “kinder and gentler nation.” Fifteen years later his proclamation appears naïve and gushing with idealism, but his optimism was understandable given the times; the Soviet Union had just collapsed with the Eastern Bloc going down with it, and all without a single shot fired from an American gun. The world, it seemed, had been rebooted and started anew.
The U.S. plan for a 21st century nuclear blitzkrieg
by George DvorskyStrangely, the end of the Cold War, for whatever reason, ended the global impetus behind the development and enforcement of non-proliferation treaties for nuclear weapons. The current North Korean situation, and soon to be Iranian situation, is an example of inexorable technological globalization. It is also symptomatic of the current nation-state era, in which geographical regions claim political, economic and militaristic sovereignty; each country claims that it has the right to develop nuclear weapons and to protect itself.
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