Open AccessNot Even Close to a (Fair) Fight: Technology and the Future of War
Author(s) -
Jennifer Kling
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
philosophical journal of conflict and violence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2559-9917
pISSN - 2559-9798
DOI - 10.22618/tp.pjcv.20215.1.139001
Subject(s) - genocide , political science , political economy , spanish civil war , law , law and economics , development economics , sociology , economics
The exponential expansion and advancement of wartime technology has the potential to wipe out ‘war’ as a meaningful category. Assuming that the creation of new wartime technologies continues to accelerate, it could soon be the case that there will no longer be wars, but rather mass killings, slaughters, or genocides. This is because the concept of ‘war’ entails that opposing sides either will, or are able to, fight back against one another to some recognizable degree. In fact, this is one of the differences between war and wholesale killing, slaughter, or genocide. With the asymmetric proliferation of killing and maiming wartime technologies, there may soon no longer be even the possibility of a fair, or somewhat fair, fight; there will only be scorched earth.