Emerging Technologies and Security: the abstraction of conflict

Emerging technologies are an indubitable foundation of security in the information age. As the capacity to construct and use new proprietary technologies has become a contested source of economic strength and military power, access to such innovations may disrupt global or regional security architectures in the future. While the dangers of digital-enabled systems and devices are not yet fully realized, policymakers will be compelled to address the threats posed by advanced weapons technologies and formulate international provisions to regulate or mitigate their use. In seeking to unpack recent developments, this chapter provides an overview of the various definitions and security ramifications of four critical emerging technologies: artificial intelligence (AI), drones, lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS), and cybersecurity. While each emerging technology poses distinct challenges for policymakers, they can also be considered as a set of interrelated challenges – with AI as a particular enabling capability. Finding viable approaches for the management of weapons systems, including potential options for their governance, remains vital for technologies that are emerging in the twenty-first century, as well as disarmament and arms control issues in continuation since the twentieth century. Following the onset COVID-19 pandemic, the relative decline of multilateral institutions has added further strain to diplomacy and international negotiations. In this context, the chapter highlights the growing risks associated with conventional and unconventional weapons, where there has been relative inaction on enacting regulations across the broader milieu of international bodies.