12-03, 14:20–14:40 (Europe/Luxembourg), Banquet Room
Is there a need to think about military issues in relation to interstellar travel? I argue yes, based on a couple of primary lines of historical and current research.
First, all indications we have are that the universe is a ‘life form eat life form’ place. Predator-prey relations exist not just in the natural world but also in the realm of state politics. It is not just about resources either, conflict can and does arise over ego, fear, markets and many other reasons. The net is that based on our one-planet dataset, war is ubiquitous and thus countries must defend themselves (in some way or another).
Closely related to existential competitiveness is the question of an extraterrestrial’s disposition. We have zero evidence that more advanced civilizations will be peaceful or benign. For that matter researchers also frequently assume monolithic ETs that speak and act with one voice, again without evidence. This implies that there could be a lack of civilizational agreement on how to treat humanity if encountered.
Second, there is no such thing as an unarmed interstellar-capable ship. At a minimum, from sheer kinetic energy, to main drive systems to electromagnetic communication systems powerful enough to work over interstellar distances, a starship can be a weapon. The unintentional mis-use of these systems or the energy of a starship might be interpreted as hostile acts. Avoiding these situations must be a paramount part of any mission.
For reasons cited it would thus be negligent not to think, plan for and incorporate some level of military practice into any interstellar ships including not just human or AI-crewed ships, but microprobes as well.
