There many are other factors like sophistication, intensity, maturity and an increasing number of adversary motives. In 2004, I suggested we were leaving the era of glory- and ego-based adversaries (or Prestige) to an era of three Ps: Profit, Politics and Prestige. While everyone seemed to understand the shift to profit, very few understood what I meant by the political motives. Now technology growth and automation at Moore's Law is increasingly fueled by ideological motives. "The Personal Power Curve" is allowing few to asymmetrically affect global events. While this has been demonstrated to enable rapid destabilization, are we sure the inverse is possible?

Technology is a powerful double-edged sword, which may help liberate oppressed peoples when wielded for good, and destroy individuals, corporations and order when wielded by others. What let many of us sleep at night was the belief that no one would be shortsighted or reckless enough to take things too far. The more we see the rise of chaotic actors and alternative motivations, can we be so certain that we're not one or two ideologically driven misanthropes away from some very bad places? It is time to challenge past assumptions about what adversaries, allies, and even employees wouldn't do.