Future War

July 1, 2017
Despite a title that sounds like science fiction, this is a down-to-earth look at the problems facing the American military, now and in years to come.Latiff is a retired Air Force major general and is the director of Intelligence Community Programs at George Mason University. He spent much of his service time researching new weapons technology, and in the opening chapters, he features some of the recent creations and what they may be once they are ready for the battlefield. Readers will get a solid nontechnical overview of developments in such fields as robotics, drones, biotechnology, and genetics, with hints of their possible applications to battlefield situations. Among the things the future may hold: a pill that lets soldiers forget traumatic combat experiences and, as a result, avoid PTSD and a drone capable of deciding on its own, in milliseconds, whether a potential target is a threat that it should eliminate. But Latiff is interested in more than the tactical implications. He puts particular stress on the ethical dimensions they call up: whether deleting a memory is an intrusion on the soldier's personal integrity and whether life-and-death decisions should be entrusted to machines without a human in the loop. Already, we are seeing how drone pilots, often far removed from the targets they strike, can be traumatized by the choices they face. The author contends that the general detachment of most Americans from military matters--with an all-volunteer Army, few families have any personal stake in whether the nation goes to war--enables politicians to promote military solutions to any foreign policy issue or to vote for bloated defense budgets to boost employment in their districts. Latiff also calls out senior officers who inhabit a bubble populated only by other military personnel. This cleareyed focus on the larger dimensions of the military enterprise raises the book above the narrowly technical discussion of new weapons and the tactics they require. A well-written, thoughtful discussion of the broader issues raised by the introduction of futuristic technology to war.

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August 28, 2017
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.

September 1, 2017

Retired U.S. Air Force general Latiff (director, Intelligence & Security Research Ctr., George Mason Univ.) sounds an alarm about the lack of understanding from both the public and politicians on the nature of the swift technological advancement in modern American combat. The author argues that technological change is proceeding at an almost unimaginable pace, including the biological enhancement of warfighters, drones, robots, and advanced cyberwarfare techniques. Latiff also suggests that policymakers are not considering the ethical dimensions of these changes on American soldiers and war opponents. Finally, he is concerned that the increasing divide between military and civilian societies negatively affects the American principle that the military should reflect the country's deeply held values and views. His background as a weapons expert and trained philosopher gives him unique skills to examine the subject of war, technology, and ethics. VERDICT Readers interested in the future and ethics of warfare and evolving military technologies will relish this thought-provoking account.--Mark Jones, Mercantile Lib., Cincinnati

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2017
Cyberspace battles, enhanced soldiers, biological agents, robotsretired U.S. Air Force major general Latiff is leery about potential new combat technologies and how the wars of tomorrow will increasingly be waged with computers. What might the risks and unintended consequences be? Once implemented, can these technologies be completely controlled? Latiff views technology as seductive, even addictive, and disposed to glitches and occasional failure. My overall concern with the new technologies is that we are, seemingly with reckless abandon, rushing to incorporate computers, robotics, artificial intelligence, and other automation into ever more human activities, both civil and military. He also worries about the influence of politics, money, and strong personalities. One former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff admitted with concern, It's become just too easy to go to war. Latiff foresees an upsurge of ethical challenges and escalating hubris associated with the use of novel weapons of warfare. He explores ways in which future battles might affect soldiers and examines the disconnect between the military and the public it protects. This is a cautionary and chilling consideration of how wars will be conducted in the near future, and a crucial reminder that there is one aspect of these new wars that won't change: people will still suffer and die.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)