New Technologies Heighten Nuclear Risks, Highlighting Need for Arms Control

Title: Emerging Military Technologies: A Double-Edged Sword for Global Nuclear Stability
The accumulation of nuclear weapons has long posed a serious threat to global security. However, a recent report by the Arms Control Association and author Michael T. Clare, titled ‘Assessing the Danger — Emerging Military Technologies and Nuclear (In) Stability’, highlights how the advent of emerging technologies is complicating this danger further. Advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), autonomy, cyber capabilities, and hypersonic weapons are being integrated into military strategies, potentially revolutionizing warfare and rendering traditional weapons and tactics obsolete.
The U.S. Department of Defense, along with military forces from other major powers, is heavily investing in these technologies, despite concerns from analysts about the unforeseen consequences of their rapid deployment. The report emphasizes the potential for AI-enabled systems to malfunction unpredictably, leading to unintended casualties or uncontrollable escalations in conflict.
A specific area of concern is the impact of these technologies on strategic stability, particularly the risks of blurring the lines between conventional and nuclear warfare, which could lead to premature use of nuclear weapons. On a more positive note, there have been efforts, such as those by arms control advocates and citizen activists, to slow the weaponization of AI and other emerging technologies, including proposals to ban lethal autonomous weapons systems, also known as “killer robots”.
The report provides detailed insights into the development and deployment of autonomous weapons systems by major military powers, including the U.S., Russia, and China. These systems, capable of identifying, tracking, and attacking targets independently, raise significant moral and legal challenges, particularly regarding their compliance with international humanitarian law.
Furthermore, the advancement and deployment of hypersonic weapons by several countries, capable of traveling at speeds greater than Mach 5, are seen as a threat to global security. Their use in conventional warfare could be misinterpreted as a nuclear first-strike, leading to a potentially catastrophic escalation.
Cyber-attack capabilities, targeting command, control, and communications systems, including those of nuclear arsenals, pose another layer of risk, potentially leading to miscalculations and unintended nuclear confrontations.
The report concludes with a call for a more cautious approach to the militarization of emerging technologies. It stresses the importance of assessing the dangers they pose and establishing meaningful restraints on their use to prevent an escalation of global conflicts.
Authored by Bharat Dogra, a prominent peace activist, the report aims to draw attention from both policymakers and peace activists to the critical need for regulation and restraint in the development and deployment of advanced military technologies.