| Prev | Up | Next |
| Food | Infrastructure | Transportation |
Without the protection of a large government, defense is obviously a necessary concern. Let’s consider the possible opponents a seastead might face in battle. They basically fall into two categories - pirates and navies.
As described in the piracy section , most pirate attacks are either very small-scale, preying on unarmed ships, or very large-scale, with organized groups stealing entire cargo ships. A seastead will be too tough for small pirates and not financially worthwhile for big ones. Conventional, readily-available weapons such as large-caliber rifles and machine guns should be sufficient for defense. Because of its platform structure, a seastead is an easily defended against hand weapons, and being a huge mass of concrete it will be quite tough. A few gun emplacements on the underside of the platform would make it a hellish place to attack with a boarding party carrying small arms. (Although these emplacements might be a bad idea by making the seastead seem more warlike to nearby nations - we must always keep these political factors in mind).
Unfortunately, a seastead will still be quite vulnerable to larger weapons. Concrete is tough but far from indestructable, and a fight against the other kind of opponent, a serious military force, would be hopeless. The central column could be blown up, and the top deck’s solar panels and greenhouses make a juicy air target. A seastead cannot easily be made strong enough to withstand naval guns, torpedoes, or missile fire, and it cannot afford guns large enough to have a range advantage on enemies. Slow movement makes it a sitting duck. A real warship could sit at a distance and barrage it with impunity. Since these new nations will start small, their potential military budget is many orders of magnitude lower than current nations.
Even if a seastead cannot win, it is still worth considering the value of defense as a deterrent. The more damage a seastead can do to its attackers, even while fighting a losing battle, the less likely it is to be attacked. Additionally, because of the private, competitive, and small nature of seastead government, it is likely that defense money will be spent efficiently. As Bob Murphy points out, we won’t be paying $600 for a toilet seat, so it may well be possible to find cost-effective defensive deterrents [Murphy]. For example, sea-skimming anti-ship cruise missiles like the Chinese Silkworm are fairly cheap and quite effective. And a rocket engineer in New Zealand has set out to prove that you can build a small cruise missile for $5,000, thanks to the decreasing cost of many of the important components [Simpson].
As independent and sometimes macho individuals, it can be difficult to admit miliatary inferiority. But since there is little a seastead can do to stop a real navy, they shouldn’t spend too much money to try. Seasteads should focus on the ounce of prevention rather than the pound of cure. Other than the ability to damage the attacking force through defensive deterrents, most prevention is political rather than military. Avoid angering terrestrial nations enough to provoke an attack. Be redundant - build many floating cities in many places. Be willing to compromise some freedoms in order to maintain others. Be useful. If you supply advanced medical technology to government officials, it’s less likely someone will blow you up. Work with existing nations - have a good relationship with your flag issuers.
The economic and military inferiority of seasteads may only be temporary. As a sea-city gets larger, it is more likely to anger existing nations, and it will be more economically feasible to spend money on defense. Perhaps, over time, seasteads will become large and rich enough to join the ranks of dangerous nations. But it’s going to be awhile.