Future War

Preparing for the New Global Battlefield

By: Robert H. Latiff

Narrated by: Johnathan McClain

Length: 4 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

An urgent, prescient, and expert look at how future technology will change virtually every aspect of war as we know it and how we can respond to the serious national security challenges ahead.

Future war is almost here: battles fought in cyberspace, biologically enhanced soldiers, autonomous systems that can process information and strike violently before a human being can blink.

A leading expert on the place of technology in war and intelligence, Robert H. Latiff, now teaching at the University of Notre Dame, has spent a career in the military researching and developing new combat technologies, observing the cost of our unquestioning embrace of innovation. At its best, advanced technology acts faster than ever to save the lives of soldiers; at its worst, the deployment of insufficiently considered new technology can have devastating unintended or long-term consequences. The question of whether we can is followed, all too infrequently, by the question of whether we should.

In Future War, Latiff maps out the changing ways of war and the weapons technologies we will use to fight them, seeking to describe the ramifications of those changes and what it will mean in the future to be a soldier. He also recognizes that the fortunes of a nation are inextricably linked with its national defense and how its citizens understand the importance of when, how, and according to what rules we fight. What will war mean to the average American? Are our leaders sufficiently sensitized to the implications of the new ways of fighting? How are the attitudes of individuals and civilian institutions shaped by the wars we fight and the means we use to fight them? And, of key importance: How will soldiers themselves think about war and their roles within it?

The evolving, complex world of conflict and technology demands that we pay more attention to the issues that will confront us before it is too late to control them. Decrying what he describes as a "broken" relationship between the military and the public it serves, Latiff issues a bold wake-up call to military planners and weapons technologists, decision makers, and the nation as a whole as we prepare for a very different future.

©2017 Robert H. Latiff (P)2017 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A cautionary and chilling consideration of how wars will be conducted in the near future." ( Booklist)

"A thoughtful and thought-provoking book that addresses a range of political and sociological issues beyond what the title Future War infers. It comports with the highest tradition of 'truth to power'. A compelling book." (Honorable James R. Clapper, former US director of national intelligence)

Future defense policy and how it relates to govmnt

Good discussion of national issues relating to defense and some discussion in the early chapters of developing technologies. He is right about the need to improve the education of the average citizen, and also their general intelligence. He rightly warns of the dangers of the genetic warrior-engineering plans of our adversaries. None-the-less, I would have preferred more information about extremely crucial high-tech developments which will limit the necessity for war in the future, and less about the political infighting of liberal Washington politicians and Harvard academics. In conclusion he warns we are at a critical inflection point and therefore the public need be more informed about the issues to ensure our security and avoiding wasteful arms races.

if you liked A Thin Red Line...you'll get it.

I was hoping this book would be an incitefull discussion about how future wars are likely to be fought (Cyber attack capabilities? Space Force? or even a discussion of whats possible) so it was a dissapointing discussion as a 20 year USAF vet myself. However, the last half of the book is alot of introspective discussion of what became a lot of opinion about the future direction and whats flawed about the current DoD machine. Not the book I was hoping it would be.

Insufferable

While I am very much interested in the topics covered by the author, including the ethical employment of AI and machine learning and what it means to the warfighter, by Chapter 4 I found the author to be insufferable. He repeatedly displayed his own arrogance all the while demeaning those actually in a position of leadership and authority to make decisions as arrogant.

Don't wast your money or credits

Just a run-on of buzz words and modern warfare colloquials. The short length of the book should have been a flag to me. The author never goes into any depth on what to expect on future warfare. The author spends much of the short book talking about the effects of modern war on soldiers and leaders but does not appear to have an real experience in leading soldiers, "boot on the ground" in combat. Again, not worth the money. I'd recommend staying away.

Lacking content

The actual content wasn't even an article in wired magazine, most of the authors efforts are more about moralizing the use of weapons that don't yet exist and though listed are poorly defined. A scathing critique is leveled at America yet no one else ,
It was more of a liberal rant in a coffee shop than using deductive reasoning as to how said technology I'll impact the battle space, solid Monday morning quarterbacking on the Iraq war which has never been done.....