Precision - A History of American Warfare

We think of precision warfare as a modern invention, closely associated with the Gulf War, the Kosovo Campaign and drone technologies. But its origins go back much further in history.As historian James Patton Rogers reveals, this quest to achieve precision in war began in 1917, during the early years of powered flight in the United States. This means that precision has been a significant, if not always achievable, feature of American strategic thought for more than a hundred years.Patton Rogers takes readers on a journey through the twentieth century, highlighting the innovative thinkers of the First World War, the experimental technologies of the Second World War and the surprising Cold War nuclear strategies that made precision the dominant feature it is today. From Russia's offensive war in Ukraine to Libya, Ethiopia and Nagorno-Karabakh, the conflicts of the twenty-first-century are being fought with precision weapons. Patton Rogers answers two enduring questions: why has precision been such a defining feature of US military thinking? And how has this ambition shaped public and military perceptions of war today?

About the author

James Patton Rogers is the Executive Director of the Cornell Brooks Tech Policy Institute at Cornell University. He has been an expert advisor to the United Nations Security Council, UK Parliament and is the NATO Country Director of the Full Spectrum Drone Warfare project supported by NATO SPS.

Product details

• Authors: James Patton Rogers
• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.12.2023
• EAN: 9781526125880
• ISBN: 978-1-5261-2588-0
• No. of pages: 224
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 210 mm x 10 mm
• Subjects: Education and learning > Teaching preparation > Vocational needs; Non-fiction book > Politics, society, business > Politics; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; POLITICAL SCIENCE / Security (National & International), North America, military history, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, HISTORY / United States / 20th Century, HISTORY / Military / United States, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, Warfare & defence, Theory of warfare and military science