Arms races among invertebrates, intelligence gathering by the immune system and alarm calls by marmots are but a few of nature's security strategies that have been tested and modified over billions of years. This provocative book applies lessons from nature to our own toughest security problems—from global terrorism to the rise of infectious disease to natural disasters. Written by a truly multidisciplinary group including paleobiologists, anthropologists, psychologists, ecologists, and national security experts, it considers how models and ideas from evolutionary biology can improve national security strategies ranging from risk assessment, security analysis, and public policy to long-term strategic goals.
Raphael D. Sagarin is Associate Director for Ocean and Coastal Policy at The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University. Terence Taylor is the President and Director of the International Council for the Life Sciences. He previously served with the United Nations as a Commissioner and Chief Inspector for Iraq on weapons of mass destruction and was a career officer in the British army.
"A fascinating read, and an essential and novel perspective on international security. Sagarin and his collaborators are not afraid to think outside the box, effectively making the case that we need to think about these problems in new ways."—Simon Levin, George M. Moffett Professor of Biology, Princeton University
"Sagarin and Taylor's Natural Security searches for the roots of political stability by studying interaction in its most fundamental forms, from genes and cells to ideology. This fresh, bold book heralds a vital integration of evolutionary analysis with real-life problems."—Richard Wrangham, Ruth B. Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology, Harvard University
"As the ongoing disaster in Iraq so graphically demonstrates, we need new ways to think about international security and what policies to pursue. Drawing on modern evolutionary biology in diverse ways these essays suggest new modes of analysis and scientific additions to our social, economic and political models. The net result is an insightful and stimulating contribution to a critical debate."—Malcolm Dando, Professor of International Security, Bradford University, UK
306 pp.6 x 9Illus: 13 line illustrations, 5 tables
9780520253476$85.00|£71.00Hardcover
Feb 2008