Power to the People

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Never have so many possessed the means to be so lethal. The diffusion of modern technology—robotics, cyber weapons, 3-D printing, autonomous systems, and artificial intelligence—has granted ordinary individuals access to weapons of mass violence once monopolized by states. Despite efforts by governments to control this flow to individuals and non-state groups, these attempts are failing. Audrey Kurth Cronin explains that we are witnessing an intensification of an age-old trend: technological advancements combined with changes in user demographics have historically reshaped warfare. Accessible innovations in destructive force have driven new patterns of political violence, as seen with the inventions of dynamite and the AK-47, which inadvertently fueled terrorist and insurgent movements. Today, emerging technologies are transforming society and redistributing power, disrupting institutions, including armed forces. The "sharing economy" of the twenty-first century is emblematic of this shift. New "open" technologies are changing access to violence, while functions like mass mobilization and force projection, once state-controlled, are now utilized by non-state actors. Cronin emphasizes the need for strategic responses to harness the benefits of these technologies while mitigating the risks they pose to global security. As power in the form of lethal technology flows to the people, we must act wisely to ensure safety.