John Alexander's FUTURE WAR gives us a definitive look at emerging non-lethal weapons technology. Colonel Alexander draws on his years of experience in law enforcement and as a Special Forces soldier as well as his work in weapons development at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He gives us more than fascinating descriptions of exotic gadgetry and its applications. He explains how a convergence of political and technological factors gave rise to new threats and how non-lethal weapons can counter these threats while reducing loss of human life (and minimizing adverse political and public relations consequences). He tells us about the origins, evolution, and capabilities of these weapons and how they can be used singly and in combination to thwart bad guys, rescue victims, and send loud, unambiguous messages to decidedly unfriendly governments.
Colonel Alexander's descriptions of actual and hypothetical applications are relevant and engaging: stopping a saboteur from poisoning millions of Americans, rescuing students held hostage by gunmen in a suburb of Denver, destroying the infrastructure of an unfriendly Central European government, and toppling troublesome dictators. Indeed, because they are so compelling, one wonders if these "hypothetical" scenarios are entirely fictional. There's plenty of material for nail-biters: home made bombs and land mines, grisly tortures and massacres; chemicals of incredible lethality; warheads delivering unstoppable combinations of deadly diseases to sleeping cities.
Alexander is no Pollyanna. He views non-lethal weapons as supplements to, rather than replacements for, our conventional arsenal. He does not pretend that non-lethal weapons never cause fatalities, but he does convince us that these are minimal, compared to those caused by conventional weapons. Alexander recognizes that some of these weapons are expensive and many will remain outside of the reach of the average police department, and he cautions that without considerable training these weapons will not be deployed properly. Furthermore, he acknowledges that as presently enacted, some of our laws and treaties may make it difficult to deploy certain non-lethal weapons. He gives us a particularly penetrating analysis of how some of these weapons run afoul of public opinion. (The same person who doesn't mind pounding the enemy to smithereens with artillery may be reluctant to accidentally blind an enemy soldier with a laser.)
This book is strongly endorsed by many prominent, high-ranking military officers. No doubt, some of their favor was shaped in part by Colonel Alexander's reputation as a professional solider and his hard work in behalf of national defense. But these endorsements also reflect the fact that Alexander has done a great job of presenting a very controversial multi-faceted topic. He treats non-lethal weapons as SYSTEMS that are dependent upon international politics, law, public opinion, and strategic and tactical considerations as well as "gee whiz" technology. Alexander tells a very difficult and important story about science and people, and we should rejoice that this story is available to the general public.
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