Warring Futures: A Future Tense Event

Video of  the keynote from Monday’s event is posted above; please see the agenda for links to individual panel discussions.

New technologies are changing warfare as profoundly as did gunpowder.  How are everything from flying robots as small as birds to “peak warrior performance” biology altering the nature of the military as an institution, as well as the ethics and strategy of combat?  How will the adoption of emerging technologies by our forces or others affect our understanding of asymmetrical conflict?  

New technologies are always embraced wherever there is the greatest competition for advantage, but quickly move out to the rest of us not engaged in sport or warfare. At this May 24 Future Tense event — sponsored jointly by Arizona State University, New America Foudnation, and Slate magazine — a wide range of experts from the military, private sector and academia explored how these technologies will inevitably migrate to consumer markets and the broader culture, and what their impact will be.

A more-detailed event summary will be posted here shortly. For additional reading on this topic, please see the following Slate.com articles:

• The Cyborg Insects are Coming!  by Braden Allenby
• Wonder Weapons Don’t Win Wars, by Fred Kaplan
• We, Robot, by P.W. Singer

Participants