The
singular purpose of the ICBM was to deliver mass death and destruction to any
other nation that had the economic and technological power to threaten our view
of the world and our lead in developing nuclear weapons. These new
weapons contained an unprecedented capacity for destroying not just your enemy,
but its cities and civilians inhabiting them. Civilians who are probably
no more deserving of death than we were.
Today,
thanks to the exponential growth, affordability, and accessibility of virtually
every technology the world is awash in the means of mass death and
destruction. And there is less and less capacity for governments to
defend against them given the technological advances in speed, stealth, number,
and their anonymous nature. This last factor and the
willingness of attackers to die for their cause even reduces the effectiveness
of deterrence as a means of insuring security.
Some
experts would argue that the acronym WMD be reserved only for nuclear weapons
as it was originally intended. But understanding the killing
capacity of biological weapons one can make an indisputable argument that one
well-designed bioweapon can kill more people (billions) than one nuclear weapon
(a few million at most). And drone delivery of a bioweapon is
infinitely easier, cheaper and less likely to be detected than an ICBM
delivered nuke. A Nuclear ICBM can destroy a city. A
bioweapon can destroy civilization.
Twenty
years ago, I toured US campuses and civic institutions speaking about the
growing variety and volume of national security threats we face. My
introduction to the topic was a simple graph with three simple
lines. The first line represented the exponential growth of all
technologies bending steadily upward and out the top of the
chart. The second line represented our linear thinking process that
rose upward and extended off the right side of the chart. The last
line represented our governments history of change. A flat line extending
across the bottom of the chart with a spike after September 11,
2001. A single attack by 19 men using razor blades and our own passenger
planes instead of ICBMs. Since then that flat line has been heading
downward…resisting any chance of the transformational change needed to prevent
or better recover from the coming threats.
People
today might debate calling those commercial jets WMD. But failing to recognize
that a drone used to deliver a biological weapon is a WMD is clear evidence of
the dangers of linear thinking and the suicidal nature of our government’s
resistance to any change.
Combine
linear thinking with our government’s addiction to national sovereignty and its
unswerving worship of our Constitution (a document specifically designed
to resist rapid and significant change) and the transformational changes
needed to avoid catastrophic consequences becomes unthinkable.
So
now, in addition to super power nations with official forms of WMD the world is
increasingly populated by super powered individuals. Some are
inspired to create technologies capable of connecting everyone in the world
with communication, commerce, and community spirit. Other’s however,
are inspired to use that same technology to infect the world with distrust,
divisiveness and/or infectious diseases.
Security
has always been difficult. The human bodies systems and structures
contain so many vulnerabilities - and the human mind such creativity in finding
ways to disrupt them, that security is essentially an illusion. And
unachievable if someone is committed to the opposite.
Real
security: Based on expert interviews at the 2018 Stockholm Security
Conference, SIPRI has produced a new film series—‘Exploring security risks
posed by newly emerged technologies’.
Security
is not a function of armament or disarmament. It is a function of justice.
Injustices drive violence. And technologies only increase our killing capacity
as well as our dependence on it for the illusion of security. The best we can
do is create a social, political and economic environment where the willingness
to go to war or commit mass murder is virtually non-existent. Technology is not
the answer. The golden rule is...think Universal Declaration of Human Rights or
achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Holding people accountable for
injustices by the rule of law or people will turn to the law of force to seek justice.
The
evolution of weaponry will end only when we decide that justice and human
survival is more important than any other political, economic, or religious
priority.
Time
and technology are not on our side. But we do have the resources and
the know how to make a more just, sustainable, and fulfilling future for
all. It all depends on what we are committed to.
You
might wonder why today was introduced as 'WMD Appreciation Day' instead of WMD
Awareness Day. Fact is, we've always been aware of WMD. But
we've never really appreciated the value of WMD in making us rethink our
worship of national sovereignty and our faith in technology to
protect us. They can't. Only a global justice system has
that possibility.
"Love for others and
respect for their rights and their human dignity, irrespective of who or what
they are, no matter what religion - or none - that they choose to follow, will
bring about real change and set in motion proper relationships. With such
relationships built on equality and trust, we can work together on so many of
the threats to our common humanity." - Mairead Maguire
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