Readings: The Royal Society Report on Neuroscience, Conflict, and Security
The technological frontiers of conflict include cyberwar, robotics, and autonomous lethal weapons. It is time to add a new one: the use of neuroscience in conflict. Whether by creating new weapons to be deployed against an enemy, cognitive enhancements to be used by soldiers to advantage themselves against an enemy, or new methods of rehabilitation for wounded and recovering victims of war, neuroscience is becoming part of the science of conflict and security. The legal and ethical issues are of course legion and barely explored.
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The technological frontiers of conflict include cyberwar, robotics, and autonomous lethal weapons. It is time to add a new one: the use of neuroscience in conflict. Whether by creating new weapons to be deployed against an enemy, cognitive enhancements to be used by soldiers to advantage themselves against an enemy, or new methods of rehabilitation for wounded and recovering victims of war, neuroscience is becoming part of the science of conflict and security. The legal and ethical issues are of course legion and barely explored. The Royal Society has a new study out on these possibilities, Neuroscience, conflict and security (Brain Module 3, February 2012). It is readable by non-medical or scientific specialists, and reasonably short.
Kenneth Anderson is a professor at Washington College of Law, American University; a visiting fellow of the Hoover Institution; and a non-resident senior fellow of the Brookings Institution. He writes on international law, the laws of war, weapons and technology, and national security; his most recent book, with Benjamin Wittes, is "Speaking the Law: The Obama Administration's Addresses on National Security Law."
