Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Game-Changing Military Technologies: Adoption and Governance

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Disruptive and Game Changing Technologies in Modern Warfare

  • 821 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter offers an analysis and discussion of disruptive technology and revolutions in military affairs. It explores factors that influence technology adoption and analyzes whether certain legal and diplomatic responses (e.g., treaties, bans, and prohibitions) to weapons innovations are an effective governance tool for limiting proliferation. Examining the outcome of governance tools on the adoption and proliferation of technology can elucidate trends, uncover relationships, and inform better approaches to international security, diplomacy, and policy. Knowing what relationships exist is important to developing a clear picture of viable options and possible leverage points. Investigating the interaction between technology and governance enhances the knowledge base from which national security decisions are made and may contribute to increased effectiveness in governance approaches. Making the best, most inform decisions, is an imperative aspect in maintaining superiority.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Persistent Forecasting of Disruptive Technology (2010) Committee on Forecasting Future Disruptive Technologies, National Research Council. The National Academies Press, Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  2. Bower JL, Christensen CM (1995) Disruptive technologies: catching the wave. Harv Bus Rev 73(1):43–53

    Google Scholar 

  3. Christensen CM, Raynor M, McDonald R (2015) What is disruptive innovation? Harv Bus Rev 93(12):44–53

    Google Scholar 

  4. Krepinevich AF (1994) Cavalry to computer; the pattern of military revolutions. The National Interest, 1 Sept 1994. https://nationalinterest.org/article/cavalry-to-computer-the-pattern-of-military-revolutions-848

  5. Metz S, Kievit J (1995) Strategy and the revolution in military affairs: from theory to policy. Strategic Studies Institute, 27 June 1995. https://ssi.armywarcollege.edu/pdffiles/PUB236.pdf

  6. Chapman G (2003) An introduction to the revolution in military affairs. Paper presented at the XV Amaldi conference on problems in global security, Helsinki, Finland, Sept 2003. http://www.lincei.it/rapporti/amaldi/papers/XV-Chapman.pdf

  7. Toffler A, Toffler H (1993) War and anti-war: survival at the dawn of the 21st century. Little, Brown and Company, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  8. Metz S, Kievit J (1995) Strategy and the revolution in military affairs: from theory to policy. Strategic Studies Institute, 27 June 1995. https://ssi.armywarcollege.edu/pdffiles/PUB236.pdf; Krepinevich AF (1994) Cavalry to computer; the pattern of military revolutions. The National Interest, 1 Sept 1994. https://nationalinterest.org/article/cavalry-to-computer-the-pattern-of-military-revolutions-848; Toffler A, Toffler H (1993) War and anti-war: survival at the dawn of the 21st century. Little, Brown and Company, Boston

  9. Hagel C (2014) Defense innovation days. Speech at Southeastern New England Defense Industry Alliance delivered by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Newport, Rhode Island, 3 Sept 2014. http://archive.defense.gov/Speeches/Speech.aspx?SpeechID=1877

  10. Bob Work (2015) Reagan defense forum: the third offset strategy. Speech at Reagan Presidential Library delivered by Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work, Simi Valley, CA, 7 Nov 2015. https://www.defense.gov/News/Speeches/Speech-View/Article/628246/reagan-defense-forum-the-third-offset-strategy/

  11. Ellman J, Samp L, Coll G (2017) Assessing the third offset strategy. Center for Strategic and International Studies, Mar 2017. https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/170302_Ellman_ThirdOffsetStrategySummary_Web.pdf?EXO1GwjFU22_Bkd5A.nx.fJXTKRDKbVR

  12. Wheeler EL (1987) Ephorus and the prohibition of missiles. Trans Am Philol Assoc 117: 157–182 (The Johns Hopkins University Press)

    Google Scholar 

  13. McNeill WH (1982) The business of war in Europe 1000–1600. In: The pursuit of power. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 63–81

    Google Scholar 

  14. Elliott C (1841) Delineation of Roman Catholicism: Drawn from the authentic and acknowledged standards of the Church of Rome, vol 1. George Lane, New York. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.30000112911932;view=1up;seq=9; Ellman J, Samp L, Coll G (2017) Assessing the third offset strategy. Center for Strategic and International Studies, Mar 2017. https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/170302_Ellman_ThirdOffsetStrategySummary_Web.pdf?EXO1GwjFU22_Bkd5A.nx.fJXTKRDKbVR

  15. Cannons of the Council of Lateran. Papal Encyclopedia Online. http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Councils/ecum10.htm

  16. Boothby WH (2009) Weapons and the law of armed conflict. Oxford University Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  17. Andrade T (2016) The gunpowder age: China, military innovation, and the rise of the West in world history. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Book  Google Scholar 

  18. Heard BJ (2008) Handbook of firearms and ballistics: examining and interpreting forensic evidence, 2nd edn. Wiley, West Sussex

    Book  Google Scholar 

  19. Curley R (ed) (2012) The Britannica guide to war: war on land. Britannica Educational Publishing, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  20. The Beginnings of American Railroads and Mapping. Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/collections/railroad-maps-1828-to-1900/articles-and-essays/history-of-railroads-and-maps/the-beginnings-of-american-railroads-and-mapping/

  21. Archer CI (2002) World history of warfare. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln

    Google Scholar 

  22. Van Creveld M (1991) Technology and war: from 2000 BC to the present; a revised and expanded edition. The Free Press: A Division of Macmillan, Inc., New York

    Google Scholar 

  23. Berry JF (2010) Hollow point bullets: how history has hijacked their use in combat and why it is time to reexamine the 1899 Hague declaration concerning expanding bullets. Mil Law Rev 206:88–156

    Google Scholar 

  24. Hamilton JB (1898) The evolution of the dum-dum bullet. Br Med J 1(1950):1250–1251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Schindler D, Toman J (eds) (1988) The laws of armed conflicts, Third Revised and Completed Edition, 4th edn. M Nihjoff, Dordrecht, pp 53–56

    Google Scholar 

  26. 1925 Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare. (The Geneva Protocol), United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs. http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/1925. See also “On the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction” (The Biological Weapons Convention), United Nations Office for Disarmament Affiars. http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/bwc and “Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction,” (The Chemical Weapons Convention). http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/cwc

  27. Schneider T, Lutkefend T (2019) Nowhere to hide: the logic of chemical weapons use in Syria. Global Public Policy Institute, Feb 2019. https://www.gppi.net/media/GPPi_Schneider_Luetkefend_2019_Nowhere_to_Hide_Web.pdf

  28. Kosal ME (2009) Near term threats of chemical weapons terrorism. In: Russell J, Wirtz J (eds) Globalization and WMD proliferation: terrorism, transnational networks and international security. Routledge, London, pp 63–78

    Google Scholar 

  29. Tucker J (ed) (2000) Toxic terror: assessing terrorist use of chemical and biological weapons. MIT Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  30. Frischknecht F (2003) The history of biological warfare. Sci Soc 4(Suppl 1):S47–S52

    Google Scholar 

  31. 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs. https://www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/nuclear/npt/

  32. 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty. United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs. https://www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/nuclear/ctbt/

  33. Hunt K, Kwon KJ, Hanna J (2016) North Korea claims successful test of nuclear warhead. CNN, 10 Sept 2016. http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/08/asia/north-korea-seismic-activity/

  34. The Historic Deal that Will Prevent Iran from Acquiring a Nuclear Weapon. The White House archive, President Barack Obama. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/issues/foreign-policy/iran-deal

  35. Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, United Nations, 18 Sept 1997. https://www.un.org/Depts/mine/UNDocs/ban_trty.htm

  36. Croll M (1998) The history of landmines. Pen and Sword, London

    Google Scholar 

  37. UN: Key Action on ‘Killer Robots’ International Move toward Possible Ban, Human Rights Watch, 16 Dec 2016. https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/12/16/un-key-action-killer-robots

  38. Steinbuch Y (2017) War against ISIS now involves shuttlecock grenades dropped by drones. New York Post, 16 Mar 2017. http://nypost.com/2017/03/16/war-against-isis-now-involves-shuttlecock-grenades-dropped-by-drones/

  39. Etzioni A, Etzioni O (2017) Pros and cons of autonomous weapons systems. Mil Rev 72–18 (2017). https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/pros-and-cons-of-autonomous-weapons-systems.pdf

  40. Unmanned Systems Roadmap 2007–2032. Department of Defense, 10 Dec 2007. https://fas.org/irp/program/collect/usroadmap2007.pdf

  41. Garcia D, Herz M (2016) Preventative action in world politics. Glob Policy 7(3):370–379

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Price R (1995) A genealogy of the chemical weapons taboo. Int Organ 49(1):73–103 (Winter 1995)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Weapons treaties look ready to unravel, and that’s a big problem. Washington Post, 30 Nov 2016. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/weapons-treaties-look-ready-to-unravel-and-thats-a-big-problem/2016/11/30/2ffcf11e-b5ad-11e6-b8df-600bd9d38a02_story.html

  44. Third Report of the Organization for the Prohibition of chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism. United Nations Security Council, 24 Aug 2016, http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=s/2016/738

  45. Death by Chemicals: The Syrian Government’s Widespread and Systematic Use of Chemical Weapons. Human Rights Watch, 1 May 2017. https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/05/01/death-chemicals/syrian-governments-widespread-and-systematic-use-chemical-weapons

  46. Berlinger J (2017) VX nerve agent used to kill Kim Jong Nam, police say. CNN, 27 Feb 2017. http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/23/asia/kim-jong-nam-vx-nerve-agent

  47. Cronin AK (2003) Terrorist motivations for chemical and biological weapons use: placing the threat in context. Congressional Research Service, Report RL31831, 28 Mar 2003. https://fas.org/irp/crs/RL31831.pdf

  48. Schmitt E (2016) ISIS used chemical arms at least 53 times in Syria and Iraq, report says. New York Times, 21 Nov 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/world/middleeast/isis-chemical-weapons-syria-iraq-mosul.html?_r=0

  49. Wille B (2017) ISIS accused of unleashing chemical weapons in Mosul: Iraqi government and humanitarians should do more to protect civilians. Human Rights Watch, 6 Mar 2017. https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/03/06/isis-accused-unleashing-chemical-weapons-mosul

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Rockie Rodriguez

Authors
  1. Rockie Rodriguez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rockie Rodriguez .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Margaret E. Kosal

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Rodriguez, R. (2020). Game-Changing Military Technologies: Adoption and Governance. In: Kosal, M. (eds) Disruptive and Game Changing Technologies in Modern Warfare. Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28342-1_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation