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Title: Future War: Non-Lethal Weapons in Twenty-First-Century Warfare by John B. Alexander ISBN: 0-312-26739-8 Publisher: Griffin Trade Paperback Pub. Date: 11 November, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (10 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Comprehensive, Authoritative, Engaging
Comment: John Alexander's FUTURE WAR gives us a definitive look at emerging non-lethal weapons technology. Colonel Alexander draws on his years of experience in law enforcement and as a Special Forces soldier as well as his work in weapons development at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He gives us more than fascinating descriptions of exotic gadgetry and its applications. He explains how a convergence of political and technological factors gave rise to new threats and how non-lethal weapons can counter these threats while reducing loss of human life (and minimizing adverse political and public relations consequences). He tells us about the origins, evolution, and capabilities of these weapons and how they can be used singly and in combination to thwart bad guys, rescue victims, and send loud, unambiguous messages to decidedly unfriendly governments.
Colonel Alexander's descriptions of actual and hypothetical applications are relevant and engaging: stopping a saboteur from poisoning millions of Americans, rescuing students held hostage by gunmen in a suburb of Denver, destroying the infrastructure of an unfriendly Central European government, and toppling troublesome dictators. Indeed, because they are so compelling, one wonders if these "hypothetical" scenarios are entirely fictional. There's plenty of material for nail-biters: home made bombs and land mines, grisly tortures and massacres; chemicals of incredible lethality; warheads delivering unstoppable combinations of deadly diseases to sleeping cities.
Alexander is no Pollyanna. He views non-lethal weapons as supplements to, rather than replacements for, our conventional arsenal. He does not pretend that non-lethal weapons never cause fatalities, but he does convince us that these are minimal, compared to those caused by conventional weapons. Alexander recognizes that some of these weapons are expensive and many will remain outside of the reach of the average police department, and he cautions that without considerable training these weapons will not be deployed properly. Furthermore, he acknowledges that as presently enacted, some of our laws and treaties may make it difficult to deploy certain non-lethal weapons. He gives us a particularly penetrating analysis of how some of these weapons run afoul of public opinion. (The same person who doesn't mind pounding the enemy to smithereens with artillery may be reluctant to accidentally blind an enemy soldier with a laser.)
This book is strongly endorsed by many prominent, high-ranking military officers. No doubt, some of their favor was shaped in part by Colonel Alexander's reputation as a professional solider and his hard work in behalf of national defense. But these endorsements also reflect the fact that Alexander has done a great job of presenting a very controversial multi-faceted topic. He treats non-lethal weapons as SYSTEMS that are dependent upon international politics, law, public opinion, and strategic and tactical considerations as well as "gee whiz" technology. Alexander tells a very difficult and important story about science and people, and we should rejoice that this story is available to the general public.
Rating: 5
Summary: A must read for technology, military and law enforcement.
Comment: John Alexander really knows his stuff. His though provoking book is must reading for anyone interested in where technology is taking us in the military or law enforcement. Non-lethal weapons are essential to the nation's future and John's book conveys the "why".
John has been a pioneer in the area of non-lethal weapons, if not the actual inventor of the concept. Having worked with him in this area of technology, I know his expertise is phenomenal. Clearly written and acually prophetic in many ways, John's text paints an eerie picture of the future. Significant in its detailing of technology, the book also deals with the policy issues and circumstances requiring non-lethal weapons.
This book is a "must read" for anyone seriously dealing with future weaponry, military and law enforcement trends, or the directions of technology. Highly recommended.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent
Comment: As US/Allied forces this very day are engaging in military operations against Iraq, the emphasis is not only on victory but on the minimization of casualties, both military and civilian. This book discusses several approaches to the latter, via the use of "non-lethal" weapons, and some of these may in fact be employed in Operation Iraq Freedom. The discussion is fascinating, and one can only hope that future technological developments will make war less probable because of the ideas expoused by the author. In the foreword to the book, the author lets Tom Clancy remind the reader of the unique American viewpoint on warfare. Americans, because of the nature of the government in which they have chosen to create and participate, have always been reluctant to go to war. Every soldier is precious, indeed, human life is precious, and is not to be taken lightly. It is therefore not a surprise that precision-guided and non-lethal weapons have and are undergoing intense development in the last two decades in the United States. Hopefully this attitude will continue in this, the best of all centuries. The author seems confident that it will, and indeed we are fortunate to have individuals in the U.S. military who have his attitude and share his philosophy.
Some of the more interesting technological developments in non-lethal weaponry discussed in the book include: 1. Electromagnetic weapons: man-portable laser weapons, blinding weapons, isotropic radiator weapons, pulse weapons, stun guns. 2. Chemical non-lethal weapons: antimateriel chemical agents, superacids, pheromones. 3. Acoustic weapons, such as pulsed periodic stimulus, which causes perceptual disorientation in the individual.
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Title: Atomic Audit: The Costs and Consequences of U. S. Nuclear Weapons Since 1940 by Stephen I. Schwartz ISBN: 0815777736 Publisher: The Brookings Institution Pub. Date: 30 June, 1998 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: Winning the War: Advanced Weapons, Strategies, and Concepts for the Post-9/11 World by John B. Alexander, Ph.D., John Alexander ISBN: 031230675X Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books Pub. Date: 28 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: The Advisors: Oppenheimer, Teller, and the Superbomb (Stanford Nuclear Age Series) by Herbert F. York ISBN: 0804717141 Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr Pub. Date: June, 1989 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300-2050 by MacGregor Knox, Williamson Murray ISBN: 052180079X Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 27 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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Title: The Future of War : Power, Technology and American World Dominance in the Twenty-first Century by George Friedman, Meredith Friedman ISBN: 0312181000 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 15 February, 1998 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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