FUTURE WAR

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 or restraints 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)