A military expert reveals how science fiction is fast becoming reality on the battlefield, changing not just how wars are fought, but also the politics, economics, laws, and ethics that surround war itself

P. W. Singer’s previous two books foretold the rise of private military contractors and the advent of child soldiers— predictions that proved all too accurate. Now, he explores the greatest revolution in military affairs since the atom bomb—the advent of robotic warfare.

We are just beginning to see a massive shift in military technology that threatens to make the stuff of I,Robot and the Terminator all too real. More than seven- thousand robotic systems are now in Iraq. Pilots in Nevada are remotely killing terrorists in Afghanistan. Scientists are debating just how smart—and how lethal—to make their current robotic prototypes. And many of the most renowned science fiction authors are secretly consulting for the Pentagon on the next generation.

Blending historic evidence with interviews from the field, Singer vividly shows that as these technologies multiply, they will have profound effects on the front lines as well as on the politics back home. Moving humans off the battlefield makes wars easier to start, but more complex to fight. Replacing men with machines may save some lives, but will lower the morale and psychological barriers to killing. The “warrior ethos,” which has long defined soldiers’ identity, will erode, as will the laws of war that have governed military conflict for generations.

Paradoxically, these new technologies will also bring war to our doorstep. As other nations and even terrorist organizations start to build or buy their own robotic weapons, the robot revolution could undermine America’s military preeminence. While his analysis is unnerving, there’s an irresistible gee-whiz quality to the innovations Singer uncovers. Wired for War travels from Iraq to see these robots in combat to the latter-day “skunk works” in America’s suburbia, where tomorrow’s technologies of war are quietly being designed. In Singer’s hands, the future of war is as fascinating as it is frightening.

辛格曾在2008年奧巴馬競選總統時擔任他的國防政策顧問，還是美國布魯金斯學會（美國著名智庫之一）21世紀安全和情報中心的創始人，也是該學會近100年來最年輕的高級研究員。

辛格是“新美國基金會”（New America）的戰略傢，《大眾科學》雜誌的編輯。曾被美國《史密森尼》雜誌提名為美國領先革新者百強人物，被美國《國防新聞》周刊評為最有影響力的100位國防專傢之一，還被《外交政策》列入全球百位思想傢名單，著名市場調查機構Onalytica的統計顯示：辛格已成為全球網絡安全領域十大最具影響力的人物之一。

獲奬作品包括：《企業化戰士》《童子軍》《機器人戰爭》《網絡安全與網絡戰爭》。最新作品《幽靈艦隊》，一部科幻驚悚與紀實研究相互交織的作品，也成功獲得瞭眾多讀者的認可，從美軍參謀長聯席會議主席到互聯網的發明者，再到《權利的遊戲》的作者，都是這本書的忠實讀者。

想要瞭解更多的信息，請訪問作者官方網站：www.pwsinger.com.