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314 Our own experience suggests that advanced extraterrestrials might still be territorial.'°* Others believe that territoriality is not a basic biological trait, as many species do not exhibit this drive. Harrison, who seemed to endorse the assumption that rivalry over territory is the cause of war, cited an analysis by Dyson implying that territoriality will become harmless in the vastness of space.’ Two expanding civilizations with different planetary requirements might ignore each other, observed Sagan.'” Others believe that expansive alien civilizations, long accustomed to living away from planets, may have little interest in ours. The Galaxy may be populated with societies that arose on planets but that are comfortable only in the depths of interstellar space. If territorial motives are lacking, can we therefore dismiss the possibility of conflict? Not if our analysis includes the modern security dilemma of cae ete atthe preemptive attack. During much of the Cold War, the primary worry of each superpower was not invasion, but a fear that it would be preempted by a nuclear strike that would destroy or cripple its ability to retaliate. This led to a hair- trigger confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union, despite the fact that neither intended to threaten the territorial integrity of the other. More recently, terrorists have reminded us that some major attacks have nothing to do with seizing territory; they are designed either to change behavior or to exact revenge. Knowing from historical experience that aggressive, powerful civiliza- tions can evolve, technologically advanced species may choose to eliminate potentially dangerous competition. Barrow and Tipler thought that the destruction of other species would be the best strategy for a colonizing species if they believed that the biological “exclusion principle” applied to intelligent beings (that principle states that two species cannot occupy the same ecological niche in the same territory)'7! Even if a more powerful species has no interest in our solar system, they may see logical reasons to stop us from becoming dangerous. It would be foolish for a more advanced civilization to wait for other life to get to the “star wars” level, O’Neill argued; it makes far more sense to destroy that other life when it is incapable of defending itself. He offered some small comfort: if there were anybody out there hostile to us, we would not have been allowed to get as far along as we are now.'” An interstellar probe might be designed to prevent another culture from progressing beyond a certain point. What would be the triggering event? Rood suggested that extraterrestrials might establish “watch stations” throughout the Galaxy to monitor G stars with planets for emerging tech- nology, so that they can intervene between technological emergence and the ability for interstellar travel.'” Assumptions: After Contact