The Brain is the Battlefield of the Future (Smart Dust) – Dr. James Giordano

In this video, Dr. James Giordano speaks to United States Military Academy cadets and faculty at West Point’s Modern War Institute about the human brain and the future of war. Giordano is the Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Recent history has seen substantial advancements in neuroscience and neurotechnology, Giordano explains. These advancements are almost certain to impact the wars are fought in the future. In many ways, the brain might even become part of the battlespace.

One specific technology mentioned is "smartdust," which refers to controllable nanomaterials that can be aerosolized to infiltrate the biological system up to the neural membrane. These materials could be used to manipulate brain functions and behavior, raising significant ethical concerns in the context of warfare and conflict.

“This potential for manipulation of behavior and intellectual functioning through manipulation of the brain has now been realized…..

The brain is the next battlespace…. We are targeting the brain…. Like (in) any race, the morbidity and mortality, going at this speed, with this level of integrity and this level of momentum, is real.

We are tracking neurological or brain signatures of key targeted individuals that are thought to represent whole groups. If I understand how his or her brain works and do this on a broad enough scale, I can develop patterns and I can use this in ways that informs my intelligence; this force multiplies and synergizes my human intelligence (HUMINT), my signals intelligence (SIGINT), and my communications intelligence (COMINT). NEURINT (Neuro intelligence) coupled with assessment and access gives me these capabilities.

I can utilize neuro-pharmacologics and various forms of brain stimulation to extract information from key intelligence targets.”

Speaking in his capacity as the Director of DARPA’s Center for Disruptive Technologies and Future Warfare in the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University, Giordano has said plainly that the battleground of ongoing warfare does not necessarily involve armed combatants or persons who know they are engaged on a battlefield. In fact, he argues that the present-day war zone is now the human brain.

The target is not primarily an enemy army, but the citizen.

First published on October 29, 2018

https://mwi.westpoint.edu/mwi-video-brain-battlefield-future-dr-james-giordano/