Page 79 - The Fourth Industrial Revolution

The digital revolution created new opportunities for communication and
“mobility” that complemented and enhanced physical mobility. It is likely

that the fourth industrial revolution will have a similar effect, as the fusion
of the physical, digital and biological worlds will further transcend
time/space limitations in such a way as to encourage mobility. One of the
challenges of the fourth industrial revolution will therefore be the
governance of human mobility to ensure that its benefits are fully realized by

aligning sovereign rights and obligations with individual rights and
aspirations, reconciling national and human security and finding ways to
maintain social harmony in the midst of increasing diversity.

Source: Global Agenda Council on Migration, World Economic Forum

The changing nature of conflict

The fourth industrial revolution will affect the scale of conflict as well as
its character. The distinctions between war and peace and who is a

combatant and non-combatant are becoming uncomfortably blurred.
Similarly, the battlefield is increasingly both local and global.
Organizations such as Da’esh, or ISIS, operate principally in defined areas
in the Middle East but they also recruit fighters from more than 100
countries, largely through social media, while related terrorist attacks can

occur anywhere on the planet. Modern conflicts are increasingly hybrid in
nature, combining traditional battlefield techniques with elements that were
previously mostly associated with armed non-state actors. However, with

technologies fusing in increasingly unpredictable ways and with state and
armed non-state actors learning from each other, the potential magnitude of
change is not yet widely appreciated.

As this process takes place and new, deadly technologies become easier to
acquire and use, it is clear that the fourth industrial revolution offers
individuals increasingly diverse ways to harm others on a grand scale.

Realizing this leads to a greater sense of vulnerability.

It is not all bleak. Access to technology also brings with it the possibility of

greater precision in warfare, cutting-edge protective wear for combat, the
capacity to print essential spare parts or other components right on the
battlefield, and so on.

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