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Synopsis
"This book addresses an important but little-noticed phenomenon in the revolutionary world of military technology. Across a wide range of otherwise unrelated weapons programs, the Pentagon is now pursuing arms deliberately crafted to be less powerful, deadly, and destructive than the systems they are designed to supplement or replace. This direction is historically anomalous; military forces generally pursue ever-bigger bangs, but the modern conditions of counterinsurgency warfare and "military operations other than war" (e.g., peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance) demand a military capable of modulated force." By providing a capacity to intervene deftly yet effectively, the new generations of "useable" weaponry should enable the U.S. military to accomplish its demanding missions in a manner consistent with legal obligations, public relations realities, and political constraints. Five case studies are provided regarding precision-guided "smart bombs," low-yield nuclear weapons, self-neutralizing antipersonnel land mines, directed-energy antisatellite weapons, and nonlethal weapons.