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Stories you missed in 2007
Written by: Andrew Stroehlein
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Foreign Policy magazine has just issued its annual list of ten stories overlooked during the past year. Once again, it is thought-provoking and inspires me to learn more about the topics, two of which have a serious future-is-now twist to them.
Right from the top, it's interesting: "The year 2007 will be remembered as the beginning of the cyberwars." Running through the cyberattacks that occurred this year -- most notably against Estonia in April -- FP reports that in September, the US Air Force set up a new "Cyberspace Command", where "500 or so cyberwarriors" will aim to prevent or minimise such attacks and, presumably, do more than simply stay on the defensive. (But why the Air Force, I wonder. Why not the Navy or Army?)
Number ten on the FP magazine's list is another story suggesting reality is finally catching up to science fiction: the increasing use of robots in military operations. Washington has apparently budgeted some $1.7 billion for ground-based military robots between 2006 and 2012, and they are now used for more than minesweeping and defusing bombs. The "special weapons observation remote reconnaissance direct action system" -- SWORDS, geddit? -- now in use in Iraq comes with a sizeable machine gun.
As FP writes, "this new development does raise serious ethical and technological issues about the future of intelligent machines in war." In other words, if a robot commits an atrocity, who do you send to The Hague? Ah, but then, these are American robots, and the US has not signed up to the International Criminal Court. Fire away, then, Robo.
Other stories on the FP list include the Thai military budget bonanza, the slipping support for Israel among young American Jews, and splits among leading militant Islamists. Like last year's list, it's worth a read.
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Journalist Andrew Stroehlein is Director of Media and Information for the International Crisis Group, the conflict resolution organisation, where he promotes responsible coverage of current and potential conflicts and helps draw attention to forgotten wars around the world.
