Peace, war, and computers / Chris Hables Gray.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gray, Chris Hables.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

War.

Information warfare.

World politics--21st century.

World politics.

Globalization.

Peace.

Physical Description:

xxi, 213 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Routledge, 2005.

Summary:

Computers are at the heart of war today, but even the best missile defense system envisioned by the military would have been useless against box-cutters on September 11. Creator of the cult classic Cyborg Handbook and author of Cyborg Citizen, hailed by Wired magazine as "a ripping good yarn," Chris Hables Gray argues that rapid technological development is the order of the day, and our future will be determined by who uses it and for what-terror or peace.

A visionary and disarming overview of cyberwar in the twenty-first century, Peace, War, and Computers looks beyond the gadgets of techno-warfare and the early predictions of a purely "cyberspace" war to reveal how electronic culture has changed the way we wage war and strive for peace. Unmanned aircraft-soon to be followed by remote-control naval fleets-may appear to make warfare more sterile, less bloody. But as the fighting in Iraq has shown, superior technology does not guarantee quick or bloodless victories.

Essential reading for anyone interested in computers, politics, and the cutting edge of military strategy and theory, Peace, War, and Computers unlocks the power and pitfalls of computers for war-and peace-in a world where total war is as unthinkable as apocalyptic war is possible.

Contents:

TerrorWar in the Twenty-First Century xi

Politics and September 11 xii

Keywords xiv

Part I The Situation 1

1 The New Normal Isn't 3

On Terror 3

The Second Cold War 10

Not a New War 12

No Surprises 17

Unintended Consequences 18

2 Real War and Postmodern Illusions 23

Postmodern War at the End of War 23

The Perpetual Revolution in Military Affairs 27

Weapons of Mass Destruction 30

Information War and Real Combat 35

Asymmetry 42

3 Globalization: Who Will Rule the World? 47

Empires 47

Neoliberal Globalism 50

Nationalism 57

Internationalism 62

4 The Politics of Technologies/The Technologies of Politics 69

Technics, Artifacts with Politics, and Actants 69

Information Rules and Metarules 77

Power 86

Machine Politics and Civil Society 89

Part II Responses 95

5 The Future Present of Peace and Resistance to War 97

Peace Organizing and Theorizing 97

Official Peaces: Peacemaking/Peacekeeping 102

One World/One Net 106

One Peace/Many Paths-A Better World Is Possible 111

6 Art as Politics by Other Means 119

Art and War 119

Culture Jamming 123

Prefiguration 128

Prefigurative Ethics and Embodiment 131

7 The Possibilities of Citizenship 137

Subjectivity 137

Human/Cyborgs/Posthumans 141

The Digital Agora and Metaspace Politics 144

8 Reasons for Hope 155

Epistemological Conclusions 155

Predictions 162

Shaping the Future 168.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-198) and index.

ISBN:

0415928850

0415928869

OCLC:

56672159