The Future of War: Power,
Technology and American World
Dominance in the Twenty-first
Century by Meredith Friedman
Loved It.
The Future of War makes a brilliant case that the twenty-first century, even
more than the twentieth, will be the American century, and that Americas
global dominance will be associated with a revolution in weaponry and
warfare as basic as the one that arose with the development of gunpowder
five hundred years ago. From the era of flintlocks and cannons to the day
of automatic weapons and heavy artillery, the waging of war-while
undeniably changing in many aspects-has continued to rely on the
technology that began with the use of black powder to expel a projectile
through a tube.
In The Future of War, the authors argue that this Age of Ballistics is ending
and we are entering a fundamentally new period, the Age of Precision-
Guided Munitions (PGMs), the so-called smart weapons that will antiquate
the traditional way of making war. Where guns and artillery are inherently
inaccurate and need to be fired thousands of times to hit one target, these
new projectiles are precise and lethally efficient; while ballistic weapons
platforms must be brought within range of the battlefield, PGMs can
devastate from any distance.
The authors show how the innovations in weapons technology will affect
Americas defense strategies on land and sea, in air and in space,
reshaping our military forces, while confronting us with new strategic

challenges as America enters the twenty-first century as the dominant
power on the globe.
Personal Review: The Future of War: Power, Technology and
American World Dominance in the Twenty-first Century by
Meredith Friedman
"The Future of War" is for anyone interested in military matters, or anyone
interested in thinking. It's a great book about warfare, but even if you don't
have much interest in war, you'll find a treasure-trove of that oft-cited skill,
'critical thinking'.
The book begins with the long history of war, providing insight into things I
never considered. For example, the author explains how David was able
to kill Goliath, who was burdened with very heavy defensive armor at the
expense of mobility.
The book draws a comparison to present day Goliaths - the huge armored
tanks and the aircraft carrier battle groups - and how both strategy and
technology is changing the usefulness of those weapons systems. I was
surprised when I realized that the immense power of a carrier battle group
is primarily focused on protecting the carrier, which in turn only has a few
dozen attack aircraft from which it launches offensive weapons. I knew
some of the data previously, but the book assembled that data in a way I
hadn't considered.
The importance of sea lane control, and the analogy to control of certain
orbits in space, was fascinating. There's so much more, but you'll have to
read the book. It's a keeper, even though it was written several years ago.
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