Adrian Kranz
As the public sphere brims with buzzwords like “AI” and “Crypto,” the national security community is still grappling with the implications of how the United States wields them as tools of statecraft.
Technology is always changing the global geopolitical power balance both militarily and economically. Cryptocurrency represents a potential threat to Washington’s favorite “big stick,” economic sanctions. For instance, Russian agents use Tether to circumvent sanctions and buy drone parts and weapons. Russia ends up being able to reap the benefits of a stable world-accepted currency while not having to play by the rules the United States dictates. This is setting a precedent that has been all but ignored by establishment politicians on both sides of the aisle. The National Security Agency is equipped to track some of these transactions. Yet, they cannot interfere with the flow of the currency, a particularly perplexing proposition for lawmakers with an, at best, cursory understanding of this particular mode of exchange.
Artificial Intelligence has created new predictive and early warning capabilities, such as predicting elections, crop growth, revenue flows, and military movements, all of which have sizable strategic and military implications. Small connected and AI-integrated military detachments are the future of effective warfare, and many nations are starting to take notice. Yet, the DOD has not made enough of an effort to procure and integrate AI into U.S. military operations. This places the military in a similar position to the early years of the War on Terror, completely unprepared to fight a new type of enemy that moved and fought faster than the top brass had imagined.
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