The Monograph on the theme “Advances in ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) and the Likely Nature of Warfare,”focuses on how advances in ICT has brought about a sea of changes in the way people work, live and share while also making them vulnerable. These advances also exhibit a fundamentally reformed global context for development that has not just been restrictiveto the civilian domain but has simultaneously impacted the military domain. These advances offer unparalleled opportunities, risks and strategic options. The exponential pace of advances in the field of AI (Artificial Intelligence), robotics, big data, quantum computing or IoT (Internet of Things) pioneers a significantly different vision of work and society. The vision is rooted in, and hence naturally tends to propagate a form of organisation embodying a more distributed power structure.
The current trends in war-fighting presents a very blurred picture of the future operating
environment, but they give some shape to its likely direction. Military forces are trying to become much more flexible and have been adapting to these changes while emphasizing on the importance of innovation and improvisation in order to counter challenges emanating from future scenarios. In this context, the monograph highlights the changing military strategies and tactics across nation’s vis-à-vis the hanging and emerging ICT technologies. It is also highlights the importance to look at present institutions, legal frameworks and principles as well as at the restraining factors inherent in realpolitik in order to understand if nation states are ready. The new means of waging war combined with ubiquitous cyber capabilities, currently may seem a less threatening to the body politic until the actual doomsday arrives.
