Problem:
As stated throughout the video, technology has become increasingly instrumental in creating weapons of mass destruction, and since this video is dated (2007), technology advances have continued to grow and improve since it was made.
Technology can be used to develop WMDs, but can also be used to develop deterrents for deploying WMDs. While, we mostly think of countries developing WMDs, or terrorist groups having access to them, with the technology as it is today, anyone could potentially have access to WMDs through hacking the technology necessary to deploy the WMDs, which is something that you see in movies, but could very well happen if someone with nefarious motives was able to attain access to the technology.
When thinking of WMDs, it is most likely to think of nuclear bombs and the like; however, microbes are also utilized, like the use of anthrax that was sent to legislative members in the early 2000s, which resulted in several deaths. I think the scientific technology used to create biological WMDs, anyone likely could get their hands on the blueprints for developing those through dark web channels, putting non-state actors more likely to be able to use WMDs, even though they are not necessarily going to have access to long range missiles or bomb WMDs.
Deterrence is an important factor, and most countries have developed technology, even in the early 2000s as seen in the video, to help identify and monitor imports for radiation, seismic activity, or microbes. Robots, though not fool-proof, were shown in the video; today artificial intelligence has likely expanded and improved on the ability to scan for WMD technology. Non-state actors would not necessarily import biological WMDs from other locations that would need to come into the country via cargo ships. As seen in movies, but is based on potential real-life scenarios, non-state actors could effectively commit mass-murder via biological WMDs at highly populated public places, such as sporting events, buildings, etc. These types of WMDs would be difficult to detect; for instance, when I go to sporting events, they do not scan us for biological/microbes. Without having every building, etc. equipped with the robots mentioned in the video to scan every person who enters, it is not something that will ever be able to fully be preventable.
Unfortunately, a problem with detection is it often occurs after it is too late, such as the seismic activity in 2006 after North Korea had deployed a WMD test. Detecting it after they had deployed the weapons, if they would have been sent to a target, would have been too late to prevent it. On the other hand, we do have anti-bombers now that can intercept missiles that have already been deployed towards targets. As technology continues to evolve, those will likely even get better, as well.
It is worth mentioning that as technology develops, including AI, there is a big potential for deterrence of the planning process through communication networks, psychological profiles, etc. Send Peers Response to This Discussion and Citation. Need Assignment Help?