The Next World War: Computers Are the Weapons & the Front Line is Everywhere
Language: English
Published by Simon & Schuster, NY, 1998
- First Edition
- Hardcover
- Used

Seller: Liberty Book Shop, Avis, PA, U.S.A.Liberty Book Shop
AbeBooks seller since April 2, 1998
Condition: Used - Fine
US$ 8.00
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
in dj.; HB, octavo; 366 pages.
Seller Inventory # 26993
- Title
- The Next World War: Computers Are the Weapons & the Front Line is Everywhere
- Author
- Adams, James
- Publisher
- Simon & Schuster, NY
- Publication year
- 1998
- Condition
- Fine
- Dust jacket
- Fine
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0684834529
- ISBN 13
- 9780684834528
- Edition
- 1st ed
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Reviews
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Reads like science fiction that is alternately dream and nightmare. Formerly a London Sunday Times defense correspondent and now CEO of UPI, Adams (Bull's Eye, 1992, etc.) argues that the emergence of high-tech weaponry is initiating a paradigmatic change in warfare. Satellites and computers will provide tomorrow's soldiers with extraordinary knowledge of their foe, and weapons ranging from Trojan horses in computer codes to ``flying beetles'' that are actually miniature airplanes will enable warriors to control the enemy's operational environment. While fascinating and fun, the scenarios Adams presents to illustrate the future of warfare do not leave a strong impression of neutrality; for Adams the enlightened military men and women (``cyberknights'') promoting information warfare and other high-tech approaches to conflict are on the right track, and those who oppose increasing expenditures in this direction are examples of bureaucratic resistance to change. While he may be unduly open to claims of technical wizardry, however, Adams recognizes that it is a two-edged sword. The US can effectively utilize its scientific superiority in armed conflict, as demonstrated in the Gulf War, but there is a Pandora's box quality to information warfare: everyone can join in the game, and the highly technical and computerized nature of American society makes us more vulnerable than most other countries. We already have extensive experience with individual hackers who are able to penetrate mainframe computers, and Adams argues strongly for increased intelligence efforts to counteract such threats. Perhaps the biggest danger, however, is the complacency public knowledge of information warfare may engender. Showing pictures of smart bombs going through doorways may leave us believing that war can become a no-risk proposition and that information warfare is a low-cost solution to our security needs. This could leave the US looking ``like Goliath, arrogant in its power, armed to the teeth, ignorant of its weakness,'' and just as vulnerable. An odd blend of fantasy and foreboding. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
A veteran reporter of military and intelligence affairs investigates the state of computerized warfare and paradoxically discovers that the U.S. is both the best at it and the most vulnerable to it. The Pentagon must want you to know, for it gave Adams tours of its information warfare centers. He found a doctrinal debate between change-resistant bureaucracies and younger officers cognizant of the Web's potential as a weapon. Compared with what is now possible, the Persian Gulf War's electronic razzmatazz seems primitive, and Adams' discussion of the future not only inventories what our military is experimenting with but also analyzes the top priority countries, such as Russia, China, and France, according to information warfare in their various activities against the U.S. (while acknowledging that our hackers are doing as much as they can against them). Unconvinced that the U.S. government is up to speed on the digital arms race, Adams raises awareness and reminds younger cyber-sophisticated readers of a high-demand career field: computer security. Gilbert Taylor
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Liberty Book Shop
Avis, PA, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since April 2, 1998
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