The invention of the Internet has changed the way social resistance, revolutionary movements and terror groups are organized with new features such as loose network organization, netwars, social media campaigns, and lone wolf attacks. This article argues that blockchain technology will lead to more far-reaching changes in the organization of resistance to authority. Blockchain is a distributed ledger that records transactions using a consensus protocol, and when it meets objective conditions, it also enables smart contracts that execute transactions. Blockchain technology is not only a system for transferring value, but also it is a trustless system in which strangers can cooperate without the need for having to trust each other, as computer code governs their interactions. Blockchain will not only allow resistance/ terror organizations to easily receive donations globally, to have assets that a government can easily confiscate, and to disseminate censorship-resistant propaganda, but more importantly, to operate and cooperate across the world in a truly leaderless, coordinated, and highly decentralized fashion. Governments will need to be more proactive in the area of blockchain technology to mitigate some of the dangers to political stability that may emerge from it.

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This chapter argues that in many respects the regulation of Autonomous Weapons Systems (AWS) presents a similar challenge to arms control as biological weapons do and that many lessons learned from the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) could be applied to the control of AWS. AWS that utilize “deep learning” are potentially unpredictable and uncontrollable weapons. International regulation efforts for AWS should focus on the development of safety and design standards for artificial intelligence (AI), should put in place confidence-building measures for enhancing transparency and trust in AI R&D and related applications, and should aim for a ban of offensive AWS. Enforced international transparency in the development of AI could make AI better and safer, including in a military context, which would improve strategic stability.