Thursday, April 1, 2010

Better Military Technology Does Not Lead To Shorter Wars, Analysis Reveals


From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Mar. 31, 2010) — It is generally assumed that military technology that is offensive rather than defensive in nature leads to shorter wars. Yet, a new doctoral thesis from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, shows that this assumption is not correct.

For long, researchers have thought that offensive military technology, such as armoured cars and attack jets, makes it easier to shorten the duration of a war. It is also generally perceived that when the offensive technology is more effective than the defensive technology, it is more advantageous to start a war.

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My Comment: In the past, better technology did shorten wars. But today's conflicts are often determined not by military technology, but by the will of the public and its leaders to prosecute a war. If the support is not there to fight the fight, the best technology in the world will not make a difference in any conflict .... and if the other side has the will fight, they will ultimately win even if they should lose every battle that is fought .... every battle that is with the exception of the last one.

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