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This speculative article examines the concept of deceiving autonomous drones that are controlled by artificial intelligence (AI) and can work without operational input from humans. This article examines the potential of autonomous drones, their implications and how deception could possibly be a defence against them and /or a means of gaining advantage. It posits that officially, no truly autonomous drone is operational now, yet the development of AI and other technologies could expand the capabilities of these devices, which will inevitably confront society with a number of deep ethical, legal, and philosophical issues. The article also examines the impact of autonomous drones and their targets in terms of the power/deception nexus. The impact of surveillance and kinetic impacts on the target populations is investigated. The use of swarms can make deception more difficult although security can be breached. The Internet of Things can be considered as based on the same model as a swarm and its impact on human behaviour indicates that deception or perhaps counter-deception should be considered as a defence. Finally, the issues raised are outlined. However, this article does not provide definitive answers but, hopefully, exposes a number of issues that will stimulate further discussion and research in this general area.

This paper explores the bias and manipulation of the Western mass media during the Gulf wars of 1991 and 2003. The tactics of compliance and the ethics of the press and journalists are examined. The need for a pluralist press is extolled.

The advent of digital information technology heralded the concept of information warfare. This 'preliminary' stage in the 1990s really consisted of technology warfare where the networks, upon which combat relied, were seen as weapons to gain 'information superiority'. This was the inception of the technological aspect of Information Warfare. The realisation of the effectiveness of electronic networks to optimize organisational communication was taken up by industry, the military and terrorist groups alike. As society quickly became more reliant on digital networks to run its critical functions, it became apparent that this infrastructure was vulnerable and needed protection (as well as being a target for offensive operations).The next stage was the emphasis not on the technology but the information which it stored and processed. This was the 'information' stage of Information Warfare (now renamed Information Operations to reflect its expanded scope). This stage developed further and gradually started to include elements such as public relations, and strategic communications This paper examines the development of these elements and their use by terrorist groups. It concentrates on the contemporary manifestations of Influence Wars.

This paper examines the history of the phenom enon of Information Warfare and the increasingly dominant role that deception is taking within its framework. The concept of information warfare began as a technology oriented tactic to gain information dominance by superior command and control. This soon developed into a realization of the power of information as both a 'weapon' as well as a 'target'. The importance of information ra ther than its associated vehicle – information technology − created a situation where influence became a critical factor in conflict. As the nature of conflict changed to being an almost ongoing situation, control over mass communication be- came a high priority task for governments as we ll as the military. As such, the manipulation of information became an essential function. Thus, th e world of deception became an integral part of official communications between governments and their constituency.

Gravity model explanations of trade volumes frequently include dummy variables to account for the commonality of language among trading partners. In this paper we use a data set for the number of people in a country who speak English as a first language or English as a second language (Crystal, 1997) as an indicator of the ease with which trade with the United States occurs. Controlling for commodity fixed effects we use SITC three digit industry data centred on 1995 United States bilateral trade with 33 countries to determine the effect of the degree of language commonality on bilateral trade. Both English as a first language and English as a second language are found to be less important for exports than for imports. This is true for all three digit industries as well as when the specific industry groups identified in Rauch (1999) are considered.

Gravity model explanations of trade volumes frequently include dummy variables to account for the commonality of language among trading partners. In this paper, we use a data set for the number of people in a country who speak English as a first language or English as a second language (Crystal, 1997) as an indicator of the ease with which trade with the US occurs. Controlling for commodity fixed effects we use SITC three-digit industry data centered on 1995 US bilateral trade with 33 countries to determine the effect of the degree of language commonality on bilateral trade. Both English as a first language & English as a second language are found to be less important for exports than for imports. This is true for all three-digit industries as well as when the specific industry groups identified in Rauch (1999) are considered. 4 Tables, 1 Appendix, 30 References. Adapted from the source document.

This article uses data on regional output and imports to examine the relationship between imports and regional growth in the Northeast. The tariff rates, both nominal and effective, are considered as evidence of national policy that may have benefited this particular region. The findings are that particular industries do benefit from tariff protection, but their location is due to regional resource advantages.