Recording: A Debate Between RUSI and France’s Ecole de Guerre - 2022
The French officers from Ecole de Guerre and the RUSI Military Sciences Team, including members of the ‘Rising Stars’ Programme*, teamed up to debate the following motion: “This House believes that Western militaries have a misplaced trust in technology that weakens their capacity to win wars”.
For many Western militaries, a solution to lack of mass has typically been to invest in technology as an offset. And technology has always provided an edge. However, the experience of Russian armed forces in Ukraine reminds us that fighting power remains a combination of three components: physical; conceptual, and moral. All three are needed, but is the balance right?
With the promise of new technologies, including AI, robotics, quantum and others, Western militaries seem to be betting on a new technological arms race. However, is reliance on technology the safest option when engaged in war? Is it trustworthy enough, and does the trust exist to provide the organisational structures and cohesion? Is a war only waged for victory?
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