Drones, Surveillance, and Biometrics: Global Cyberwar in the 21st Century

3 units

This course examines how the practice of militarism is changing worldwide through the development of new technologies. How are governments reshaping the practice of war and diplomacy with the use of unmanned drones to fight wars, biometric eye and finger scanners to patrol borders and immigration, wiretapping on civilian populations to conduct surveillance of foreign terrorists, etc.? How are civilians and nonstate actors engaging in cyberwar, as in the network attacks from China on major corporations like Google? What does it mean that anyone (from militants to humanitarian groups) can now buy drones on the market from private firms? How has a former judge in Montana posed online as an Iraqi cyberspy for the US government? We will assess theories and implications of these developments in readings from sociology, international relations, and science and technology studies. Guest speakers will be invited from institutions around the St. Louis region, such as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Boeing, legal specialists, and privacy advocates.