Future War: Preparing for the New Global Battlefield

Latiff, a retired U.S. Air Force general with a background in military weapons systems, emphasizes the need to understand the moral and ethical dimensions of the development of sophisticated military technologies and to craft policy with the potential dilemmas these technologies could cause in mind. He cautions that technology is addictive and seductive, and that human societies have a history of developing technologies without adequately thinking about the consequences. Latiff sees future wars being fought largely by armies of robots; humans will play a part in future war, but it will increasingly be through remote control. He also believes that new technologies will affect future soldiers, who will be isolated from their wider societies and biologically enhanced to be stronger, faster, and smarter than their nonmilitary peers. The nature of the future battlefield and warrior, he contends, will make war more brutal than ever. Latiff states that education, understanding, and expertise on military matters and science must be shared by all segments of society, particularly by the U.S. civilian population, media, and political leadership, as a bulwark against the relentless tide of technological advancement. This is a quick and stimulating read, and its focus on ethics makes it an important part of the growing literature related to managing the continuing acceleration of technological development. (Oct.)