Societal Complexity and Diminishing Returns in Security

Overview

According to Nader Elhefnawy of the University of Miami, security is becoming an area of diminishing returns in contemporary advanced societies. Elhefnawy posits that as societies become more complex, they have less “slack” for dealing with unexpected security problems. As a consequence, the defense burden of these societies grows disproportionately to the benefits their increasing complexity is expected to provide.