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home > by publication type > academic modules > Academic Module: War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History, 1500 to Today
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October 2006
| Author: | Max Boot, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies |
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A sweeping, epic history that ranges from the defeat of the Spanish Armada to the war on terrorism, War Made New is a provocative new vision of the rise of the modern world through the lens of warfare.
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October 2006
| Author: | Max Boot, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies |
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A sweeping, epic history that ranges from the defeat of the Spanish Armada to the War on Terrorism, War Made New is a provocative new vision of the rise of the modern world through the lens of warfare.
by Max Boot, Senior Fellow for National Security Studies, Council on Foreign Relations
War Made New is the story of how innovations in weaponry and tactics have not only transformed how wars are fought and won but also have guided the course of human events over the past 500 years, from the formation of the first modern states to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the coming of al-Qaeda. The book explores each revolution through narrative accounts of key battles—from the French invasion of Italy in 1494 to the American invasion of Iraq in 2003—with a focus on the role that technology played in determining their outcomes. A final section explores future technologies and applies the lessons of the past to the current discussion of military transformation and the wider war on terror. War Made New is appropriate for:
Students in a history survey course or introductory military history course will learn how key battles brought the technological innovations of their era—gunpowder, industrial production, mechanization, and information technology—to bear on the battlefield. Students will also learn about the historical context of each revolution from the author’s introduction and summation of each revolution.
Advanced classes will enjoy a richer reading of each historical period and will benefit from a wide selection of battles that include those that are not as well known but are historically important. War Made New also offers an original perspective on recent operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, a discussion of emerging technologies and their potential to revolutionize warfare, and a thoughtful conclusion on the importance and limitations of technology in the ongoing war on terror.
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March/April 2005
| Author: | Max Boot, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies |
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Summary
July/August 2003
| Author: | Max Boot, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies |
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Summary
July 24, 2006
| Author: | Michael Moran, Executive Editor, CFR.org |
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Efforts to stabilize and pacify the Middle East conflict with UN and multinational peacekeeping forces have proven difficult—if not impossible. A look at the history of such efforts.
July 18, 2006
| Author: | Esther Pan |
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The relationship between Syria and Iran is receiving new scrutiny as an Israeli offensive against Lebanon—sparked by an attack on Israeli soldiers by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is supported by both Damascus and Tehran—grinds on.
June 30, 2006
| Author: | Lionel Beehner |
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Experts predict that if civil war erupts in Iraq, the spark may come from Kirkuk. Oil-rich and under de facto Kurdish control, the city has emerged as one of Iraq's most hotly contested flashpoints.
June 28, 2006
| Author: | Lionel Beehner |
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Violence in oil-rich Basra, Iraq's second largest city, is one of the most serious security challenges facing Iraq ’s new government.
October 6, 2006
Iraq's Impact on the Future of U.S. Foreign Policy and Defense Policy: The U.S. and the Middle East (Session 1)
| Speakers: | Toby Dodge, Consulting Senior Fellow for the Middle East, International Institute for Strategic Studies |
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| Steven Simon, Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies, Council on Foreign Relations | |
| Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development, University of Maryland | |
| Presider: | F. Gregory Gause, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Vermont |
Iraq's Impact on the Future of U.S. Foreign Policy and Defense Policy: The U.S., Europe, and Asia (Session 2)
| Speakers: | Dana Allin, Carol Deane Senior Fellow, International Institute for Strategic Studies |
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| Phillip C. Saunders, Senior Research Fellow, National Defense University | |
| Presider: | Philip Gordon, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, The Brookings Institution |
Iraq's Impact on the Future of U.S. Foreign Policy and Defense Policy: The Direction of U.S. Foreign and Defense Policy After the Intervention in Iraq (Session 3)
| Speakers: | Michael R. Gordon, Chief Military Correspondent, New York Times |
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| Ronald Steel, Professor of International Relations and History, University of Southern California | |
| Presider: | Walter Russell Mead, Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations |
Iraq's Impact on the Future of U.S. Foreign Policy and Defense Policy: Coping with Rogue States, Failing States, and Proliferators (Session 4)
| Speakers: | Lawrence D. Freedman, Professor of War Studies, King's College, London |
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| Steven E. Miller, Director, International Security Program, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University | |
| Presider: | Richard K. Betts, Adjunct Senior Fellow for National Security Studies, Council on Foreign Relations |
June 2004
| Author: | Stephen E. Flynn, Ira A. Lipman Senior Fellow for Counter-Terrorism and National Security Studies |
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Three years after September 11, the United States is still dangerously unprepared to prevent or respond to another attack on its soil. Faced with this threat, the United States should be operating on a wartime footing at home. But despite the many new security precautions that have been proposed, America’s most serious vulnerabilities remain ominously exposed.
February 2004
Task Force Report No. 50
Integrating nonlethal weapons (NLW) more widely into the U.S. Army and Marine Corps could have reduced damage, saved lives, and helped limit the widespread looting and sabotage that occurred after the cessation of major conflict in Iraq. So argues this report of a Council-sponsored independent Task Force led by Dr. Graham T. Allison, director of the Belfer Center for science and international affairs at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, General Paul X. Kelley, USMC (ret.), former commandant of the Marine Corps, and former military officers, business executives, academics, diplomats, and congressional staff. Incorporating NLW capabilities into the equipment, training, and doctrine of the armed services could substantially improve U.S. effectiveness in conflict, postconflict, and homeland defense. The Task Force report concludes that equipping U.S.-trained and -supported local forces in Afghanistan and Iraq with NLW would help reinforce authority and be more acceptable to local populations than conventionally armed troops.
October 2002
Task Force Report No. 41
America remains dangerously unprepared to prevent and respond to a catastrophic terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Yet, only a year after 9/11, there are signs that Americans are already lapsing back into complacency. This comprehensive report seeks to make the nation aware of the dangers it still faces by highlighting the nation’s vulnerabilities and outlining a number of homeland security priorities that should be pursued with urgency and national purpose.
October 1999
Task Force Report No. 26
The U.S. approach to international conflict in the post–Cold War period—how we think about them and what actions we take—is enormously affected by America’s capabilities to quell conflicts by diplomatic, economic, and military means. To date, the United States has been trapped between classic diplomatic table-thumping and indiscriminate economic sanctions on the one hand, and major military intervention on the other hand. However, nonlethal weapons may offer an innovative and effective middle option that could lend weight to U.S. crisis diplomacy and offer new capabilities for pressuring adversaries or fighting wars with minimal loss of life.
Study Group on Space Posture for the 21st Century
| Directors: | Richard L. Garwin Bruce M. DeBlois |
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January 1, 2002 - February 28, 2003
September 21, 2006
| Speaker: | Hamid Karzai, President, Afghanistan |
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| Presider: | Fareed Zakaria, Editor, Newsweek International |
Watch Afghan President Hamid Karzai discuss the current situation in Afghanistan, including political developments, security, the economy, terrorism, and relations with Pakistan.
May 2, 2006
| Speakers: | Michael R. Gordon, Chief Military Correspondent, New York Times; and coauthor, "Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq" Marine Lieut. Gen. (ret.) Bernard E. Trainor, Marine Corps Lieutenant General (retired); Military Analyst, NBC; and coauthor, "Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq" |
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| Presider: | John McWethy, Special Correspondent, ABC News |
Listen to authors Michael R. Gordon and Bernard E. Trainor speak on their book Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq.
February 9, 2006
| Speaker: | John Lewis Gaddis, Robert A. Lovett Professor of History, Yale University; Author, "The Cold War: A New History" |
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| Presider: | William Taubman, Bertrand Snell Professor of Political Science, Amherst College; Author, "Khrushchev: The Man and His Era" |
April 14, 2005
| Speakers: | John Yoo, Professor of Law, School of Law, University of California, Berkeley; Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch |
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| Presider: | Jeffrey Toobin, Staff Writer, The New Yorker |
September 11, 2006
| Speaker: | Samuel R. Berger, former National Security Adviser |
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| Presider: | Gideon Rose, Managing Director, Foreign Affairs |
Listen to former National Security Adviser Samuel Berger discuss, as part of the Council’s HBO History Maker Series, his service during the Clinton administration and the foreign policy issues he dealt with, including humanitarian intervention, the Middle East peace process, North Korea, and terrorism.
June 29, 2006
| Speaker: | Richard B. Myers, General, U.S. Air Force (Ret.); and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (2001 – 2005), U.S. Air Force (Ret.); and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (2001 – 2005) |
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| Presider: | Eliot A. Cohen, Professor & Director, Strategic Studies Program, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University |
Listen U.S. Air Force General Richard B. Myers speak about his military career and his contribution to U.S. foreign policy Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
March 28, 2006
| Speaker: | Gary Hart, Former Member, U.S. Senate (D-CO) and author, “The Shield and the Cloak: The Security of the Commons” |
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| Presider: | Richard K. Betts, Adjunct Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations and Professor of Political Science, Institute of War & Peace Studies, Columbia University |
Listen to Senator Gary Hart explain how security can be achieved through new tactics and players such as special forces and economic integration.
March 23, 2006
| Speaker: | Michael Chertoff, United States Secretary of Homeland Security |
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| Presider: | Tom Brokaw, Special Correspondent, NBC News |
Listen to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff discuss port security and immigration.
November 17, 2005
| Speakers: | Daniel Benjamin, Center for Strategic and International Studies; co-author, The Next Attack: The Failure of the War on Terror, and The Age of Sacred terror: Radical Islam’s War Against America Steven Simon, Georgetown University; co-author, The Next Attack: The Failure of the War on Terror, and The Age of Sacred terror: Radical Islam’s War Against America |
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| Presider: | Stephen E. Flynn, Jeane Kirkpatrick senior fellow in national security studies, Council on Foreign Relations |
June 1, 2005
| Speaker: | Timothy Naftali, Associate Professor, The Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia; Author, Blind Spot: The Secret History of American Counterterrorism |
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| Presider: | Gideon Rose, Managing Editor, Foreign Affairs |
November 17, 2005
| Speakers: | Daniel Benjamin, Center for Strategic and International Studies; co-author, The Next Attack: The Failure of the War on Terror, and The Age of Sacred terror: Radical Islam’s War Against America Steven Simon, Georgetown University; co-author, The Next Attack: The Failure of the War on Terror, and The Age of Sacred terror: Radical Islam’s War Against America |
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| Presider: | Stephen E. Flynn, Jeane Kirkpatrick senior fellow in national security studies, Council on Foreign Relations |
May 6, 2004
| Speaker: | Rudy Giuliani, chairman and CEO, Giuliani Partners LLC, former mayor of New York |
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| Presider: | Maurice R. Greenberg, chairman and CEO, American International Group, Inc., honorary vice chairman, Council on Foreign Relations |
Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani says the United States is safer as a result of the war on terrorism.
April 8, 2003
September 21, 2006
| Author: | Dr. Barnett R. Rubin, New York University |
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September 11, 2006
| Author: | William L. Nash, Adjunct Senior Fellow for Military Affairs and Director of the Military Fellows Program |
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July 27, 2006
| Author: | Michael A. Levi, David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment and Director of the Program on Energy Security and Climate Change |
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June 29, 2006
| Author: | Max Boot, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies |
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October 13, 2006
CFR Senior Fellow Max Boot discusses War Made New, his new book on the history of military transformation.
May 3, 2006
Michael Levi speaks with cfr.org's Eben Kaplan about the consequences of nuclear terrorism on U.S. soil.
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In this Council Special Report, the authors make a strong case that the Bush administration’s policy of diplomatic isolation of Syria is not serving U.S. interests, and offer informed history and thoughtful analysis of the country and its external behavior.
Complete list of Council Special Reports.
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