Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century - Softcover

Singer, P. W.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0143116843 ISBN 13: 9780143116844

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2009

Synopsis

In Wired for War, P. W. Singer explores the great­est revolution in military affairs since the atom bomb: the dawn of robotic warfare. We are on the cusp of a massive shift in military technology that threatens to make real the stuff of I, Robot and The Terminator. Blending historical evidence with interviews of an amaz­ing cast of characters, Singer shows how technology is changing not just how wars are fought, but also the politics, economics, laws, and the ethics that surround war itself. Travelling from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan to modern-day "skunk works" in the midst of suburbia, Wired for War will tantalise a wide readership, from military buffs to policy wonks to gearheads.

About this title

Review:

aP.W. Singer has fashioned a definitive text on the future of war around the subject of robots. In no previous book have I gotten such an intrinsic sense of what the military future will be.a
a Robert Kaplan, author of "Imperial Grunts"
a"Wired for War" is a wild ride. Drawing from sources spanning popular culture and hard science, Singer reveals how the relationship between man and robot is changing the nature of warfare. He details technology that has, until now, been the stuff of science fiction: lethal machines that can walk on water or hover outside windows, machines joined in networks or thinking for themselves. Singeras appreciation for the human minds behind these machines is real, but so is his warning that the implications of this revolution are poorly understood.a
a Howard Gordon, writer and executive producer of "24, The X-Files," and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
aSinger's book is as important (very) as it is readable (highly), as much a fascinating account of new technology as it is a challenging appraisal of the strategic, political and ethical questions that we must now face. This book needs to be widely read --not just within the defense community but by anyone interested in the most fundamental questions of how our and other societies will look at war itself.a
a Anthony Lake, 18th U.S. National Security Advisor
aWill wars someday be fought by Terminator-like machines? In this provocative and entertaining new book, one of our brightest young strategic thinkers suggests the answer may well be ayes.a Singeras sprightly survey of robotics technology takes the reader from battlefields and cutting-edge research labs to the dreams of science fictionwriters. In the process, he forces us to grapple with the strategic and ethical implications of the anew new thinga in war.a
a Max Boot, author of "The Savage Wars of Peace" and "War Made New,"
aLively, penetrating, and wise ... A warmly human (even humorous) account of robotics and other military technologies that focuses where it should: on us.a Richard Danzig, 71st Secretary of the Navy aWeaving together immaculate academic research with a fan boy's lexicon of popular culture, "Wired for War" looks at the people and technologies beta-testing tomorrow's wars today. The result is a book both hilarious and hair-raising that poses profound ethical questions about the creation and use of ever more powerful killing machines.a
aGideon Yago, writer, "MTV News"
aItas not science fiction, itas not fantasy, itas here now. Read "Wired For War,"
a Robert Young Pelton, author of "The Worldas Most Dangerous Places"

aP. W. Singer has fashioned a definitive text on the future of war around the subject of robots. In no previous book have I gotten such an intrinsic sense of what the military future will be like.a
a Robert D. Kaplan, author of "Imperial Grunts: The American Military on the Ground"
aSinger's book is as important (very) as it is readable (highly), as much a fascinating account of new technology as it is a challenging appraisal of the strategic, political and ethical questions that we must now face. This book needs to be widely read -- not just within the defense community but by anyone interested in the most fundamental questions of how our society and others will look at war itself.a
aAnthony Lake, former U.S. National Security Advisor and Professor of Diplomacy, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
aDrawing from sources spanning popular culture and hard science, Singer reveals how the relationship between man and robot is changing the very nature of war. He details technology that has, until now, been the stuff of science fiction: lethal machines that can walk on water or hover outside windows, machines joined in networks or thinking for themselves. I found this book fascinating, deep, entertaining, and frightening.a
a Howard Gordon, writer and executive producer of "24, The X-Files," and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
"Lively, penetrating, and wise ... A warmly human (even humorous) account of robotics and other military technologies that focuses where it should: on us."
aRichard Danzig, former Secretary of the Navy and Director, National Semiconductor Corporation
aWill wars someday be fought by Terminator-like machines? In this provocative andentertaining new book, one of our brightest young strategic thinkers suggests the answer may well be ayes.a Singeras sprightly survey of robotics technology takes the reader from battlefields and cutting-edge research labs to the dreams of science fiction writers. In the process, he forces us to grapple with the strategic and ethical implications of the anew new thinga in war.a
aMax Boot, Senior Fellow for National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations; author of "The Savage Wars of Peace" and "War Made New"
aWeaving together immaculate academic research with a fan boyas lexicon of popular culture, Singer looks at the people and technologies beta-testing tomorrow's wars today. The result is a book both hilarious and hair-raising that poses profound ethical questions about the creation and use of ever more powerful killing machines.a
aGideon Yago, writer, "MTV News"
aBlew my f***ing minda]This book is awesome.a
aJohn Stewart, "The Daily Show
"A superb booka]If you read Wired for War you'll actually get a sense for the complexities that we are creating. We're not making a simpler world with these robots I don't think at all, I think we're making a more complex world, and that is something I got from this great book.
aGeneral James Mattis, USMC, NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation and the Commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command
"In his latest work, "Wired for War," Singer confesses his passion for science fiction as he introduces us to a glimpse of things to comeathe new technologies that will shape wars of the future. His new book addresses some ominous and little-discussed questions about the military, technology, andmachinery."
a "Harperas"
.,."A vivid picture of the current controversies and dazzling possibilities of war in the digital age."
a"Kirkus Reviews"
aGenuinely Provocativea
a "Book Forum"
"a]Full of vignettes on the use of robotics, first-person interviews with end- users, what has occurred in the robotics industry in its support of the nation, and what is "coming soon." Some of the new ideas are just downright mind-blowing..."
aThe Armchair General
"An admitted war geek, P.W. Singer obsessesaover the course of 400-plus pagesa about the growing role of robots in combat. His tone is oddly jovial considering the unsettling subject matter, but you won't find a more comprehensive look at mechanized death outside science fiction."
a"Details Magazine"
"If you want the whole story of remote warfare, pick up a copy of Wired for War, in which Peter Singer, a fellow of the non-profit Brookings Institution in Washington DC, exhaustively documents the Pentagon's penchant for robotics. Think of it as the next step in the mechanisation of war: swords and arrows, guns, artillery, rockets, bombers, robots."
a "The New Scientist"

About the Author:

Dr Singer is considered one the world's leading experts on changes in 21st century warfare. He has written for the full range of major media and journals, including Boston Globe, L.A. Times, New Times, amongst many others. He is also the author of Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry and Children at War.

He is also a founder and organizer of the US-Islamic World Forum, a global conference that brings together leaders from across the US and the Muslim world.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0143116843
• ISBN 13: 9780143116844
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 499