Science, technology, and the Cold War

Reynolds, David

doi:10.1017/chol9780521837217.019

Cited by 14 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…From the 1970s onwards, the United States was cementing an economic transition based upon high-tech innovation, including fiber optics, internet, commercial satellites and personalised computers rather than manufacturing. At the same time, the Soviet Union was unable to capitalise on those trends and remained increasingly left behind in economic competition (Reynolds 2010). This backwardness eventually led to the rise of Gorbachev and reformers to power, characterised by a cognitive restructuring modulated on the rejection of Stalinist-like institutions and growth-impairing policies (Kotkin 2001;Snyder 2003).…”

Section: The Overall Utility Of Polarity As a Conceptual Assetmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polarity in the Context of U.S.-China Competition: Reassessing Analytical Criteria

Borges

Lucena²

2023

CEJISS

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How can polarity be used as a pertinent conceptual asset to inform the description of the distribution of military capabilities amongst the most powerful states in the international system today, especially in consideration of U.S.-China competition? Using the military power approach to polarity, this article analyses the literature that emerged in the 2010s to critically examine this concept. In order to enhance the analytical value of polarity and propose verifiable indicators of it, this study draws on Thompson’s lead-sector model as well as Posen’s and Lee and Thompson’s research on the military foundations of polarity. When doing so, we distinguish latent enabling capabilities (as a secondary dimension of polarity) and the actual military power that primarily characterises polarity as a label. When following this operationalisation of polarity, we show that the international system is still unipolar because the U.S. has unmatched global power projection capabilities and first-rate economic and technological might to sustain its military forces. In other words, the current distribution of military capabilities in the system reflects that the contemporary international system is still U.S.-led and unipolar and that China’s rise is still too confined by regional dynamics to constitute a preface of a military-hegemonic rivalry at a global level.

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Section: The Overall Utility Of Polarity As a Conceptual Assetmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polarity in the Context of U.S.-China Competition: Reassessing Analytical Criteria

Borges

Lucena²

2023

CEJISS

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“…It is true that the recorded deaths by the USSR dwarf that of any Western nation, but it has largely been ignored by Russian historians that many of the deaths were the result of callous and ruthless attitudes of Red Army Generals, who cared little for the welfare of their soldiers (Kilcullen, 2020). Reynolds (2010) argues that, obsessed with sacrifice, commanders would continually order futile attacks against enemy positions even when no tactical victory could be achieved. American and British wartime combat casualties were considerably smaller than those of the Red Army, but allied planners would take measures which were designed to reduce risk to their military personnel through the use of technology, a disciplined command and control structure but also working to the pressures placed on them by a democratic political system, eager not to see unnecessary sacrifice (Rees, 2012).…”

Section: Why Do Russian Soldiers Fight?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Russia’s and America’s 21st-century wars: Mirror images?

Hamourtziadou,

Jackson,

Winch

2023

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In this article, we look at 21st-century warfare in the context of two great powers: Russia and America. Russian and American invasions and subsequent wars are evaluated in terms of why and how they are fought, legal and moral considerations, impact, outcomes, and consequences. The article examines similarities and differences in strategy and methods, expanding on the increasingly popular remote warfare. Finally, we assess the decisive role of science and technology in war, raising questions about the future of AI warfare.

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“…Early on, and building upon vast wartime efforts such as the Manhattan Project that had led to the development of the US atomic bomb, these 'big science' project concentrated on the defence sector. Later, however, they rapidly spread to a wide variety of social and natural sciences disciplines (Reynolds 2010;Solovey 2001;Galison 1992).…”

Section: The Golden Age Of Future Studies: Big Science and The Dark Side Of Modernitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Politics and Science of Prevision

Wenger¹,

Jasper²,

Cavelty³

2020

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This book inquires into the use of prediction at the intersection of politics and academia, and reflects upon the implications of future-oriented policy-making across different fields.The volume focuses on the key intricacies and fallacies of prevision in a time of complexity, uncertainty, and unpredictability. The first part of the book discusses different academic perspectives and contributions to future-oriented policy-making. The second part discusses the role of future knowledge in decision-making across different empirical issues such as climate, health, finance, bio-and nuclear weapons, civil war, and crime. It analyses how prediction is integrated into public policy and governance, and how in return governance structures influence the making of knowledge about the future. Contributors integrate two analytical dimensions in their chapters: the epistemology of prevision and the political and ethical implications of prevision. In this way, the volume contributes to a better understanding of the complex interaction and feedback loops between the processes of creating knowledge about the future and the application of this future knowledge in public policy and governance. This book will be of much interest to students of security studies, political science, sociology, technology studies, and International Relations.

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Science, technology, and the Cold War

Cited by 14 publications

References 10 publications

Polarity in the Context of U.S.-China Competition: Reassessing Analytical Criteria

Polarity in the Context of U.S.-China Competition: Reassessing Analytical Criteria

Russia’s and America’s 21st-century wars: Mirror images?

The Politics and Science of Prevision

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