Low-cost bioweapons manufacture destroys the logic of deterrence

Evidence

Biological weapons weren’t very expensive to begin with, and in recent years their price has plummeted. Today, it’s possible to assemble perfect copies of the world’s most dangerous diseases—pathogens such as the 1918 strain of avian influenza, responsible for roughly one hundred million deaths—in a simple basement laboratory for a few thousand dollars. If anybody can make these weapons, then anybody can use them, and this throws the essential logic of deterrence out the window. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 604 (#expands, via linked claim)

The more I sought common threads—themes uniting the stories of diverse animal species—the more apparent it became that these threads applied to our own weapons, too. In the end, my book about animal weapons evolved into a book about extreme weapons everywhere. I pored deeper into the literature surrounding our past, searching for the environments and circumstances in which our most elaborate weapons evolved. To my amazement, these circumstances truly were the same, and I realized I couldn’t tell one story without telling the other. Back and forth I went, as the biology of animal weapons and our weapons fused, inextricably woven into a single tale. This is a book about extreme weapons. Let’s just leave it at that. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 7 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Cheapening nuclear weapons is eroding the precondition for deterrence; Biological weapons can now be assembled for a few thousand dollars — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 604; Some elaborate animal weapons are astonishingly cheap to produce and carry (+6 more)

Related

• Biological weapons can now be assembled for a few thousand dollars (similarity 0.92)
• Costly advanced weapons deter rivals just like large animal weapons (similarity 0.85)
• Nuclear weapons grew cheaper as they proliferated, undermining deterrence (similarity 0.85)
• Human WMDs exceed any animal weapon in destructive capacity (similarity 0.84)
• Cheapening nuclear weapons is eroding the precondition for deterrence (similarity 0.84)
• Some elaborate animal weapons are astonishingly cheap to produce and carry (similarity 0.84)
• Deterrence logic can justify seeking more horrific retaliatory weapons. (similarity 0.83)
• Deterrence amplifies the evolutionary payoff of extreme weapon size. (similarity 0.83)
• Weapons primarily deter rivals rather than inflict harm in actual fights (similarity 0.83)
• Modern nuclear and biological weapons are destructively unprecedented in history (similarity 0.83)
• The most expensive weapons serve as deterrents by projecting power globally. (similarity 0.83)
• The evolutionary drivers of animal weapons also explain human weapon elaboration. (similarity 0.81)
• Weapon evolution and deterrence form a self-accelerating spiral. (similarity 0.81)
• Weapon growth widens the gap between the best- and worst-armed males. (similarity 0.81)
• Weapons work primarily as deterrents that prevent fights rather than win them (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Biological weapons can now be assembled for a few thousand dollars #expands (0.90) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 604
• Cheap weapons of mass destruction will erode expensive conventional forces #expands (0.80)
• The evolutionary drivers of animal weapons also explain human weapon elaboration. #expands (0.60) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 7
• Weapons work primarily as deterrents that prevent fights rather than win them #responds-to (0.60) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 966
• Some elaborate animal weapons are astonishingly cheap to produce and carry #corroborates (0.40)
• Human fortifications and artillery evolve via the same arms-race logic as animal weapons #expands (0.40) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 525