The Last Humans
UFOs, Global Security, and the Threat to State Sovereignty
Will be published approx. on 14. January 2027
Book
Hardback
240 pages
978-0-19-784116-7 (ISBN)
Description
The threat from extraterrestrials is not Them, it's Us. In this provocative exploration of what we know of the search for intelligent life in the universe, Alexander Wendt explains why, despite the common assumption that discovering a non-human intelligence in our solar system would bring humanity together, there is a real chance that--even without direct contact--it could cause states and the international system to implode in chaos and violence instead.
In 2021, the Pentagon announced that UFOs, now Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), are not only real, but a potential threat to national security. The Pentagon did not say who the threat was from, what exactly the threat was, nor did it mention extraterrestrials (ETs). Yet this finding raises several existential questions. How would human society react to the discovery that we are not alone in our solar system? Would the discovery of ETs locally unify humanity under a world state, or would disagreements on how to respond to an alien presence tear us apart?
In The Last Humans, Alexander Wendt explores a future scenario in which global authorities conclude--and disclose--that UAP are flown by ETs, and what this discovery would mean for both human security and the international state system. Wendt contends that this situation would indeed be a national security threat, but not of the traditional, military kind. The realization that states are impotent in the face of vastly superior ET power would be an ontological shock to modern civilization, given the anthropocentric assumption that "We Are Alone". Taking UAP and potential ETs seriously would call into question the legitimacy of the modern state, the social contract that underlies it, and the global civilization built around it.
By considering how people might respond to the discovery of ETs, Wendt shows how attachments to the territorial state could weaken and ultimately collapse anthropocentric sovereignty from within. He argues that this would throw humanity into a twenty-first century version of Hobbes' war of all against all--even if ETs never intervene in human affairs. Through this prism, The Last Humans makes the case that the threat of UAP is not alien conquest, but a global identity crisis in which humans discover a powerful new reason to hate each other.
In 2021, the Pentagon announced that UFOs, now Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), are not only real, but a potential threat to national security. The Pentagon did not say who the threat was from, what exactly the threat was, nor did it mention extraterrestrials (ETs). Yet this finding raises several existential questions. How would human society react to the discovery that we are not alone in our solar system? Would the discovery of ETs locally unify humanity under a world state, or would disagreements on how to respond to an alien presence tear us apart?
In The Last Humans, Alexander Wendt explores a future scenario in which global authorities conclude--and disclose--that UAP are flown by ETs, and what this discovery would mean for both human security and the international state system. Wendt contends that this situation would indeed be a national security threat, but not of the traditional, military kind. The realization that states are impotent in the face of vastly superior ET power would be an ontological shock to modern civilization, given the anthropocentric assumption that "We Are Alone". Taking UAP and potential ETs seriously would call into question the legitimacy of the modern state, the social contract that underlies it, and the global civilization built around it.
By considering how people might respond to the discovery of ETs, Wendt shows how attachments to the territorial state could weaken and ultimately collapse anthropocentric sovereignty from within. He argues that this would throw humanity into a twenty-first century version of Hobbes' war of all against all--even if ETs never intervene in human affairs. Through this prism, The Last Humans makes the case that the threat of UAP is not alien conquest, but a global identity crisis in which humans discover a powerful new reason to hate each other.
Reviews / Votes
Since UFOs were admitted to be real unknowns in the early 2020s, there's been a good deal of handwringing and shouting for more information-a full disclosure of everything the government and its various branches knows about them. The Last Humans should give us all pause to reflect on just what that could mean. Wendt takes the reader through a clear-eyed journey into our possible future if/when the presence of nonhuman intelligence riding around in the UAPs is announced. The sociopolitical ramifications are immense, even in the best-case scenario. We are not in ultimate control of all the possibilities, but Wendt offers us a way to think about and thus perhaps maintain some rational control of our own responses to what will be a turning point in human history. * Brenda Denzler, author of The Lure of the Edge: Scientific Passions, Religious Beliefs, and the Pursuit of UFOs * Alexander Wendt has gained fame transgressing the intellectual boundaries of international politics. In his latest book he has crossed the final frontier with a provocative and thought-provoking reflection upon how the possibility that UFOs might actually be 'real' would radically challenge our conceptions of reality. If that turns out to be the case it would certainly blow our collective minds but I want to believe that The Last Humans can also help us grapple with a variety of other 'ontological threats' such as General Artificial Intelligence, another pandemic, or nuclear war. * Michael C. Desch, Packey J. Dee Professor of International Relations, University of Notre Dame, and author of Cult of the Irrelevant: The Waning Influence of Social Science on National Security * In this unique and thought-provoking book, political scientist Alexander Wendt explores in detail the implications of discovering ETs in the vicinity of the Earth. Although he adopts a 'militant agnosticism' toward UFOs, ET, and alien abductions, he argues that these subjects should no longer be taboo, that we should reject anthropocentrism and prepare for a world in which aliens might constitute an ontological security threat, and in which 'the last humans' may no longer claim sovereignty over the Earth. A timely and important book. * Steven J. Dick, Former NASA Chief Historian, and author of Astrobiology, Discovery, and Societal Impact * The Last Humans is the forbidding title of a book that at once addresses the state of humanity and the state of any non-humanity that may be already in our midst or hovering nearby. Wendt's genius lies in dealing with both as two sides of the same coin. The cumulative effect of the careful argument developed in this book is that the impending discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence may provide a long-needed opportunity for resetting the crooked timber of humanity by inspiring us to collectively develop a science and corresponding social relations, which might even ultimately transcend the state-based system that governs our species with increasing difficulty. * Steve Fuller, Auguste Comte Professor of Social Epistemology, University of Warwick, and author of Humanity 2.0 * Alexander Wendt takes the core UFO question into territory few scholars have dared explore by examining the deeper political and psychological consequences of acknowledging the presence of a superior, nonhuman intelligence close to Earth. This rigorously argued, thought-provoking, and brilliantly articulated book challenges us to think seriously about the impact on human identity and society if we discover we are not alone. The Last Humans makes a powerful argument that should concern all of us. * Leslie Kean, author of UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record * Alexander Wendt is the political scientist I trust most on this question of all questions. His theoretical approach to sovereignty, the nation-state, and the otherwise puzzling taboo around the UFO are clarion: we eye-roll the UFO to protect ourselves and, behind it all, the sovereignty of the nation-state and our own anthropocentrism. Such a fear-response may be understandable, but it is not sustainable. This does not mean that such shocks are not dangerous, or that we should not proceed with caution and care. Hence this very book on both what looks like the last terrestrial human and the new cosmic citizen. * Jeffrey J. Kripal, J. Newton Rayzor Professor of Religion, Rice University, and author of How to Think Impossibly: About Souls, UFOs, Time, Belief, and Everything Else * Alexander Wendt's latest book performs an important and increasingly urgent public service, pointing out in bold, rigorous, and unsettling terms how human institutions will be challenged as never before if an ET presence near Earth is confirmed. I urge anyone involved in the UAP disclosure movement to consider these sobering insights. * Christopher K. Mellon, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, and Former Minority Staff Director, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence * Rarely does a book in International Relations systematically investigate one of the most existential questions we could ask; are we alone in the world? By daring to break the UFO Taboo, Alexander Wendt, a world-renowned international relations theorist, examines the profound security consequences that the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence could have for those living on planet Earth. The Last Humans has the potential to be one of the most influential books written in the early twenty-first century. * Brian C. Schmidt, Professor of Political Science, Carleton University, and author of The Political Discourse of Anarchy *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-19-784116-7 (9780197841167)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Alexander Wendt is Mershon Professor of International Security and Professor of Political Science at The Ohio State University. He is among the founders of the constructivist school of International Relations theory, and the author of Social Theory of International Politics and Quantum Mind and Social Science. Wendt was voted by peers in the 2017 TRIP Survey as the most influential international relations scholar of the past 20 years. In 2023 he shared the Skytte Prize in Political Science with Martha Finnemore, and in 2025 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has previously taught at Yale University, Dartmouth College, and University of Chicago.
Content
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Glossary of Acronyms
- Prologue: The UFO Taboo and its Coming Demise
- Chapter One: The Trouble with Aliens
- Chapter Two: Institutional Change After the Pentagon Report
- Chapter Three: Discovering Superior Intelligence
- Chapter Four: Ontological Security and the Anthropocentric State
- Chapter Five: Autoimmunity from Wonder to Greed
- Chapter Six: UAP Regimes and Terrestrial Populism
- Conclusion: The Last Humans and Self-Determination
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index