Drone Proliferation and the Challenge of Regulating Dual-Use Technologies

Abstract

AbstractThe controversy surrounding military drones has generated many proposals for restricting or prohibiting existing drones, additional autonomous variants that may be created in the future, and the sale of drones to certain markets. Moreover, there is broad interest in regulating military drones, with proposals coming not only from academics but also from NGOs and policymakers. I argue that these proposals generally fail to consider the dual-use character of drones and that they therefore provide inadequate regulatory guidance. Drones are not confined to the military but rather spread across international and domestic security roles, humanitarian relief efforts, and dozens of civilian applications. Drones, their component technologies, the control infrastructure, and the relevant technical expertise would continue to develop under a military-focused regulatory regime as civilian technologies that have the potential to be militarized. I evaluate the prospects of drone regulation with the help of research on other dual-use technologies, while also showing what the study of drones can contribute to that literature. Drones’ ubiquity in nonmilitary roles presents special regulatory challenges beyond those associated with WMDs and missiles, which indicates that strict regulatory controls or international governance frameworks are unlikely to succeed. With this in mind, I further argue that future research should acknowledge that drone proliferation across military and civilian spheres is unavoidable and shift focus to considering how drone warfare may be moderated by countermeasures and institutional pressures.