“Belligerence-on-the-cheap” gets… cheaper
Ahhh, yes. Picking up some summer essentials — 12-pack of tube socks. Check. 1 inflatable pool octopus. Check. Deadly drone modules? Check! They’re all available on Temu. Wired magazine’s March 20 article “Low-Cost Drone Add-Ons from China Let Anyone with a Credit Card Turn Toys into Weapons of War” writes:
The accessories the researchers found include AI drone guidance modules—essentially small, mounted cameras that use object recognition to identify humans and road vehicles at long range—and miles-long fiber optic tethers…
… used by both sides in the Russia-Ukraine war to drop explosives or autopilot crash entire drones themselves into tracked objects without requiring operator control.
The fact that battlefield technology is widely available in the United States and around the world at low cost augurs a climate in which any actor—from criminal syndicates to paramilitary groups, from disgruntled employees to ostracized teens—can quickly and cheaply gather the needed equipment to remotely go on a destructive and violent rampage.
Right now, the just-published July 2025 Socionomist cover story “Cheap Weapons: Negative Mood and the Changing Nature of War” reveals how new, low-cost weapons technology has already reshaped not just asymmetrical warfare between battling nations – but also, has compromised the security of average citizens on American soil.
This report reveals how the rapid adoption of “belligerence-on-the-cheap” tactics like drones, espionage, and cyberattacks is facilitated by a sustained erosion of positive social mood.
Read the July Socionomist and access the full cover story along with a we-don’t take-sides account on the rise of authoritarianism in American politics and a special report on how Argentina’s current political climate contains unmistakable parallels to its 1970s-80s Dirty War period.