Technology and War: A Trinitarian Analysis

Technology has been a major driving force in military efforts especially since the mid-20th century. It has been an effective tool for strategists and has changed the way technology and the war effort is interacting. The experience gained in Operation Desert Storm has showed greatly the advantages of employing technology on war as it showed the early defeat of the Iraqi forces and was effective. The same can be seen in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Meanwhile, strategist are not alone in the study of military technology as the new field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) views this as having no meaning outside the sociopolitical contexts within which it is embedded. However, both agree that the idea that humans can take full advantage of technology reinforces the implication that it is an autonomous force, setting objective benchmarks against which human choices can be definitively measured. There is also a need to make technology work for its users in this information age, as demonstrated by the recent wars in Iraq. It has also been argued that strategic analysis works at a much higher level of generality which tends to obscure the contingent nature of technology.