Security and Technology Audio: Recent Episodes
Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs
As technology develops at an unprecedented speed, it has the potential to effect our security in many different ways. From questions of Internet privacy to the development of weapons for use in outer space, these technological changes present unique challenges--and opportunities--in the twenty-first century.
How do you balance security and civil rights when protecting New York City, America's most enduring terrorist target? NY Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly discusses the controversial "stop and frisk" law, the role of technology and police stationed overseas, and publicly announces the expansion of video recording of post-arrest statements.
If you use a computer or a credit card, watch out! Governments, companies, and individuals are losing billions of dollars a year fighting an ever-morphing, often invisible, and often supersmart new breed of criminal: the hacker.
Who should control your Internet identity? In an age when bills are paid via PayPal, relationships are forged over Facebook, and revolutions are fueled by Twitter, these questions take on great prominence. How we answer them may define the Internet for years to come.
From the personal to the corporate to the national, our data is constantly at risk, says Joel Brenner. But it's like gravity; there's not much we can do about it. We just have to learn to live with the situation, stay alert, and limit potential damage.
How do companies such as Yahoo! and YouTube decide on whether disturbing material should be banned from their sites? What are the free speech and human rights issues involved? What guidelines do they use? This fascinating workshop discusses specific cases.
The boundaries between public and private are crumbling fast, often with the active or passive consent of those whose privacy is breached. What limits, if any, should be placed on a government's efforts to spy on its citizens in the name of national security?
The Indian government plans to give all 1.2 billion Indians a fingerprint ID. Are you in favor of a national biometric ID to prevent identity theft and facilitate commerce? Or are you concerned about the privacy implications? In any case, are universal IDs only a matter of time?
Amid the euphoria about the power of the Internet and social media, Morozov sounds a note of caution. He reminds us that these tools can also entrench dictators, threaten dissidents, and make it harder--not easier--to promote democracy.
Representatives from the Navy, the Marines, and the Army Corps of Engineers illustrate how the U.S. military is on the forefront of efforts to develop and implement renewable, clean energy sources.
Have aircraft carriers lost their place as core naval assets for projecting force? Does the carrier's symbolic role and massive armament still sustain its central mission? For instance, would you risk U.S. carriers in a conflict across the Taiwan Strait?
Michael O'Hanlon explains how military modeling and planning are done, taking as examples Desert Storm, the Iraq War, and the decisions to be made now about Afghanistan.
Once the stuff of science fiction, robotics are already changing the way wars are being fought, says P.W. Singer. How will they affect the politics, economics, laws, and ethics of warfare?
Can intelligent robot soldiers be designed to be more ethical in battle than human soldiers? Would you prefer a robot or a human deciding about the possibility of civilian casualties, about collateral damage?
"Directed-energy weapons"--lasers, high-powered microwaves, and particle beams--used to be the stuff of science fiction, says J. Douglas Beason. But now they’re a reality, and will transform the nature of warfare.