Technology and the 21st Century Battlefield: Recomplicating Moral Life for the Statesman and Soldier,

Abstract

The author discusses flaws in the assumption that technology might offer ways to decrease the horror and suffering of warfare. He points out that past technological advances, from gunpowder weapons to bombers, have only made warfare more--not less--bloody, and that the Revolution in Military Affairs has the potential to make war even more so. He discusses the technological landscape from precision-guided munitions and Information Warfare, to the use of space for military operations, raising issues that could pose difficult ethical, legal and moral problems for statesmen and soldiers. The author concludes by outlining several broad thematic avenues that may help address the difficult problems that lie ahead.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 15, 1999
Accession Number
ADA359946

Entities

People

  • Charles J. Dunlap Jr.

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Counter WMD
  • Cyber
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Employment
  • Information Operations
  • Information Warfare
  • International Law
  • Military Operations
  • Military Organizations
  • Munitions
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Precision-Guided Munitions
  • Space Systems
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare
  • Weapons
  • Weapons Effects

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

  • Space