Theorising Future Conflict – War Out to 2049

This book explores the changing tactics, technologies and terrains of twenty-first century war. It argues that the world in 2049 is unlikely to look like the climate change/artificial intelligence (AI) dystopia depicted in Blade Runner 2049, but nor will it be a world where conflict and war has been transformed by a ‘civilising process’ that eradicates violence and conflict from the human condition. 2049 is also the year that the US Department of Defense has suggested China will become a world-shaping military power.All states will be engaged in ‘arms races’ across a variety of new tools and technologies-from drones, robotics, AI and quantum computing-that will transform politics, economy, society and war. Drawing on thinkers such as Zygmunt Bauman and Paul Virilio, the book suggests that future war will be shaped by three broad tendencies that include a broad range of tactics, technologies and trends; the impure, the granular and the machinic.Through discussions of cybersecurity, urba