Neurotechnology and international security

Abstract

In the past decade, international actors have launched “brain projects” or “brain initiatives.” One of the emerging technologies enabled by these publicly funded programs is brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), which are devices that allow communication between the brain and external devices like a prosthetic arm or a keyboard. BCIs are poised to have significant impacts on public health, society, and national security. This research presents the first analytical framework that attempts to predict the dissemination of neurotechnologies to both the commercial and military sectors in the United States and China. While China started its project later with less funding, we find that it has other advantages that make earlier adoption more likely. We also articulate national security risks implicit in later adoption, including the inability to set international ethical and legal norms for BCI use, especially in wartime operating environments, and data privacy risks for citizens who use technology developed by foreign actors.

Introduction to the Special Issue—COVID-19, international relations, and security studies: Has the pandemic altered the study and practice of international security?

“…The final article in this special issue analyzes the extent to which COVID-19 actively reshaped parts of the U.S. national security enterprise (Kosal, 2024, p. 1). Kosal argues that the U.S. response to COVID-19 “has been to accelerate the conceptual amalgamation of emerging infectious diseases and public health with biodefense and biosecurity explicitly in national security and military contexts” (Kosal, 2024, p. 1).…”

“…The final article in this special issue analyzes the extent to which COVID-19 actively reshaped parts of the U.S. national security enterprise (Kosal, 2024, p. 1). Kosal argues that the U.S. response to COVID-19 “has been to accelerate the conceptual amalgamation of emerging infectious diseases and public health with biodefense and biosecurity explicitly in national security and military contexts” (Kosal, 2024, p. 1). Quite novel, Kosal articulates an inverse securitization within the U.S. national security apparatus, where there has been “an attempt to treat national security interests as public health problems, specifically in the context of biosecurity policies” (2024, p. 4).…”

“…Quite novel, Kosal articulates an inverse securitization within the U.S. national security apparatus, where there has been “an attempt to treat national security interests as public health problems, specifically in the context of biosecurity policies” (2024, p. 4). The scholar notes that among defense doctrine and documents emergent post-pandemic, “COVID-19 is cited as the motivating impetus at the highest levels of U.S. national security policymaking” (Kosal, 2024, p. 4). The focus of Kosal’s argument is that the national security rhetoric emanating from the USA does not contextualize ID in terms of national security threats, but rather contextualizes national security threats in terms of COVID-19.…”

“…This is perhaps the clearest example in the special issue of how pandemics affect the future of international relations and security studies. Finally, Kosal calls attention to “the missing aspect” of COVID-19: disinformation and the weakening of confidence in institutions (Kosal, 2024, p. 7). This reasoning is in line with Freyberg-Inan’s research highlighting the importance of government stability and information flows during pandemics (Sterling-Folker et al, 2021).…”

Editor-in-Chief’s introduction to the issue and volume 41 in review

“…The editors of Politics and the Life Sciences are pleased to release the first issue of volume 42. It includes a wide range of topics from genetics, political behavior, and personality (Weinschenk et al, 2023) and military adoption of brain-computer interfaces (Kosal & Putney, 2023) to racial and ethnic differences in trust in health care providers (Smith et al, 2023) and state-sponsored espionage in U.S. life sciences research (Vogel & Ouagraham-Gormley, 2023). It also includes the 2022 Association for Politics and the Life Sciences (APLS) Conference Keynote Address on “Expanding our thinking about discrete emotions and politics” by David Redlawsk (2023).…”