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Future War : Non-Lethal Weapons in Modern Warfare

Name: Future War : Non-Lethal Weapons in Modern Warfare
Author: John B. Alexander
ISBN: 9780312194161

by John B. Alexander

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Overview

The nature of warfare has changed! Like it or not, terrorism has established a firm foothold worldwide. Economics and environmental issues are inextricably entwined on a global basis and tied directly to national regional security. Although traditional threats remain, new, shadowy, and mercurial adversaries are emerging, and identifying and locating them is difficult. Future War, based on the hard-learned lessons of Bosnia, Haiti, Somalia, Panama, and many other trouble spots, provides part of the solution.

Non-lethal weapons are a pragmatic application of force, not a peace movement. Ranging from old rubber bullets and tear gas to exotic advanced systems that can paralyze a country, they are essential for the preservation of peace and stability. Future War explains exactly how non-lethal electromagnetic and pulsed-power weapons, the laser and tazer, chemical systems, computer viruses, ultrasound and infrasound, and even biological entities will be used to stop enemies. These are the weapons of the future.

About the Author, John B. Alexander

Colonel John B. Alexander's concepts have appeared in Michael Crichton's The Lost World, Tom Clancy's Debt of Honor, and other books. Future War is the first comprehensive book written by an expert in the field of non-lethal armaments. Colonel Alexander participated in the landmark Council on Foreign Relations study of non-lethal weapons and chaired the first major conferences on the topic. His extensive military experience includes commanding Green Berets in Vietnam as well as conducting research and development in advanced weapons. For five years, he was a deputy sheriff in Dade County, Florida. He developed the concept of Non-Lethal Defense at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and his work has brought him into contact with the Director of Central Intelligence and members of Congress, White House, and National Security Council staff. As NATO became interested, he served as a US representative on three international studies. He is currently the science director for a private research organization in Las Vegas and a consultant to the US government.

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Editorials

Library Journal

Alexander, U.S. Army col. (ret.) and scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, offers the first text dealing with the emerging art and science of nonlethal weaponry, including electromagnetic (lasers), chemical (tear gas), physically restraining, informational, and biological systems. Alexander creates fictional scenarios involving terrorist, military, and hostage situations and postulates how nonlethal weapons could be used to resolve them. Various appendixes list different types of weapons and currently funded military programs. Recommended for public libraries, not because of any special merit--much of the information on this topic is classified, and descriptions in the text are short and simplistic--but because Alexander is one of the acknowledged specialists in this field, and this is the first book on the topic written for lay readers.--Richard S. Nowicki, Emerson Vocational H.S., Buffalo, NY Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Gregg Easterbrook

...[A] timely, intriguing book....Future War is right...and represents a valuable reminder that the technological wizards of the American defense establishment should devote more of their considerable brainpower to that which does not kill.
— The Washington Monthly

Kirkus Reviews

A theoretical and practical overview of the current and future uses of "nonlethal" weapons (many of which have the potential to be quite deadly) by a retired US Army colonel who spearheaded research into such weapons at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Alexander offers a broad look at the various types of weapons that are likely to be used more and more by military and civilian forces, including electromagnetic weapons (that can wipe out all electronic devices), chemical options (irritants, hormones, and even stink bombs), various forms of restraint, low-impact weapons (water cannons and rubber bullets), acoustical weapons, information warfare, and nonlethal biological weapons. As he covers each type of weaponry, the author advances a future scenario for how the device or tactic might be used. While his writing is far from lively (and the scenarios are as stale as a military training manual), Alexander repeatedly will surprise even the best-informed reader with details of how new weaponry has already changed the outcome of military operations, such as how the possible use of a device to disable standard guns might have been used in the famed Israeli raid on Entebbe, or the fact that the mercenaries who downed US helicopters in Somalia learned their tactics in Afghanistan. His discussion of information warfare is simplistic and does little to address such critical issues as encryption or the potential for hijacking satellites and other vital military information centers. Alexander also repeatedly combines discussion of civilian and military uses of these new technologies, with little consideration of whether or not it is appropriate for governments to impose new types of bullets orrestraints on unruly citizens. Dry as dust, but filled with an impressive range of information on the newest military technologies. Bedside reading for the general dying to spend next year's budget. Foreword by Tom Clancy. (8 pages b&w photos, not seen)