News
New op-ed: who draws the line on dual-use defense technology?
Junior Fellow Sumajja Denysiuk argues that the boundary between commercial and military technology is set largely by the firms being regulated, and that this is an accountability problem.
There is a line somewhere between a commercial drone and an unmanned combat aerial vehicle, between a data analytics platform and a targeting system, between satellite internet and military communications infrastructure.
In a new op-ed, Junior Fellow Sumajja Denysiuk asks not whether that line exists but who drew it, how it evolved, and who benefits from keeping it where it is. Companies are encouraged to classify their own products, regulatory authority is split between two agencies with conflicting mandates, and the main international regime runs on consensus any single member can veto.
The result, the piece argues, is a system quietly captured by private actors with strong financial incentives to minimise oversight.
The op-ed is part of a series written by TPI Junior Fellows.