that could protect surplus (“security”). But the joint achievement of security and prosperity had to escape a paradox … conflict when defense capability is fixed, but may allow for security and prosperity when defense capability is endogenous …. Some economic shocks and military innovations deliver security and prosperity while others force societies back into a trap …

We develop a theoretical model of security investments in a network of interconnected agents. Network connections … introduce the possibility of cascading failures due to an exogenous or endogenous attack depending on the profile of security … networks, is that because security investments create positive externalities on other agents, there will be underinvestment in …