Technology and War: From 2000 B.C. to the Present Book

"To read the signs, our age also displays these symptoms. Partly because of the nuclear threat, partly because of the modern fascination with advanced technology per se, and partly for deeply rooted socio-ideological reasons, weapons are being turned into toys and convention war into an elaborate, but fundamentally pointless, game. While games can be nice while they last, in our age too there is a real danger that they will be upset by barbarians who, refusing to abide by the rules, pick up the playing-board and use it to smash the opponent's head. Let him who has ears to listen, listen: The call Lucifer ante portas already reverberates, and new forms of warfare are threatening to put an end to our delicate civilization"

In this seminal work, Creveld examines the role of technology in the conduct of warfare, from ancient times to the post-WWII, post-nuclear era. He emphasizes that while military technology itself has certainly played a major role, civilian technology or quasi-military technology (better roads, sanitation, etc.) has likely played a larger role in the conduct of warfare. The book is an excellent read for both students of history and people concerned with the balance of geopolitical power in the post-nuclear, but especially post-9/11, world. As Creveld says..."Even more than the guerilla, the terrorist is limisted to weapons which are small, light, and easily hidden from the authorities' eye. During the millenia before 1600 the dagger was by far the most popular of these weapons, as in the case of the Sicarii who are mentioned by Josephus and who were named after it. During the 17th century, the pistol and the bomb, the former easily acquired and the latter easily manufactured, joined the list of terrorist weapons. Even so, for another 300 years that list remained comparatively small. It was only during the 20th century that technological advances made available a whole series of small, but extremely powerful, devices"

He continues, when speaking about how to counter terrorism: "...several conditions, however, must be met for this [effective anti-terrorist operations] to be possible There must be no reluctance to employ the normal surveillance apparatus of the modern state [emphasis mine]." This itself raises a whole can of issues relating to state surveillance and liberty, which we as a society are still grappling with to this day, and which has no clear-cut answer.

An excellent, exciting, fun, read. His bibliography is well-annotated as well, and I want to dig more in depth into some of his sources.