Through its lively and accessible narrative; The World Transformed: 1945 to Present provides students with an account of the political; socio-economic; and cultural developments that have shaped global events since 1945. The book's focus on three central and profoundly interconnected stories--the unfolding of the Cold War; the growth of the international economy; and the developing world's quest for political and economic independence--offers students a framework for understanding the past and making sense of the present. Attentive to overarching themes; individual historical figures; and diverse nations--and now substantially revised with a new Part 4 that examines world events since 1990--The World Transformed; Second Edition; is ideal for courses on post-1945 world history; international relations; or global topics.
#1593567 in Books 2013-02-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 5.70 x 1.10 x 8.60l; .85 #File Name: 0199327890384 pages
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. A lively and detailed account of how technological advances are changing warfareBy Mary WarehamChristopher Coker; a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics; provides a lively and detailed account of how `21st Century technology is transforming the way we fight and think about war' in his 2013 book Warrior Geeks.In the preface entitled "From Greeks to Geeks" Coker observes that "we forget at our peril that `humanity' is neither an essence nor an end but a continuous and precarious process of becoming human." Throughout the book he considers this phenomenon and the delegation of tasks to machines that lack the ethics possessed by humans. The book covers hacking and cyber warfare as well as the use of drugs and other enhancements to create "designer warriors" but this review looks at Coker's findings on the use of robotic machines in warfare and the trend towards ever-greater autonomy; specifically the implications of taking the human soldier `out of the loop' and permitting machines to target and use lethal force without any human intervention or control. This is mainly considered in Chapter 5 on "the rise of the machines."Coker believes that by 2035 most robots will be autonomous with the ability to interface with human soldiers; autonomously kill any human perceived to be a threat; and possess a functional mortality; which he identifies as the ability "to assess and respond to moral consideration even those not anticipated by commanders when they were dispatched into battle." (page 148) Coker identifies an autonomous system as a system that can self-repair self-maintain; self-improve (learn); and self-reproduce.Coker's overarching concern with fully autonomous robotic weapons is that they would remove humanity from warfare and make the positive values that are associated with war-fighting meaningless. He believes that morality is innate and not something that can be programmed; questioning the ability of a robot to be able to possess morals. By using robots Coker believes that humans will remove the existential elements such as courage; fear; cruelty; and remorse that make war `humane' and notes that war has been rendered humane only "because of the human values; capacities; and emotions which infuse it." (page 151)Coker frequently looks to the ancient Greek philosophers to provide examples of "true heroes" and illustrate the loss of humanity that has occurred over time. He cites an array of authors; including science fiction author Issac Azimov; who proposed the `Three Laws of Robotics' in 1942. According to Coker; "Azimov's stories tells us that there is no inherent fault or failure in the robots of their algorithm" as "the problem is that moral life is not algorithmic." (page 200)According to Coker the main reason robots cannot exercise moral choices stems from the fact that they are not "social units" and "would have enormous difficulty negotiating the moral hazards and ambiguities of our human built world." (page 192) Coker notes that robots do not have instinct; only a logical code; and lack the ability to assess goals on the basis of the ultimate mission. Robots would likely not retaliate and would also be less likely to sacrifice and lack the ability to feel empathy.Coker's belief that "moral progress has never kept pace with technological evolution" sums up his perspective on the dangers of not staying on top of the constantly evolving relationship between humans and technological advances on the battlefield. (page 205)This review was prepared with the assistance of Savannah Glidewell; 2013 summer intern with the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch; where she has worked with me on the new international Campaign to Stop Killer Robots.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. How about a little editing? When I first saw ...By Lithuania's PrideHow about a little editing? When I first saw a mention of the film THE FORMIN PROJECT; I accepted it as a typo. But the film is repeatedly referred to as the FORMIN Project when it is THE FORBIN Project. No excuse for a continued mash of a work referenced numerous times!
