{"677430":{"#nid":"677430","#data":{"type":"news","title":"In Georgia Tech Visit, Future of Conflict Expert Brings His Perspective on Modern Warfare ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe conflict in Ukraine is showing the world a lot about the future of warfare, and it\u2019s not all satellites and AI, conflict scholar Tim Sweijs told students and faculty during a recent Georgia Tech visit.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The war in Ukraine has punctured the visions that portray future wars as being hybrid, liminal, or gray-zoned,\u201d Sweijs said, referring to conflicts that fall in between peace and warfare. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing over the past 30 months is a war of attrition with large armies stretched out over hundreds and hundreds of kilometers of battlefront.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESweijs is director of research at The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies and a senior research fellow at the Netherlands Defence Academy\u0027s War Studies Research Centre. His talk was part of a series sponsored by the Nunn School of International Affairs focusing on the intersection of emerging technologies and their implications for conflict and statecraft.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETracking how emerging technologies impact international security is a significant focus at the Nunn School, where scholars interested in everything from bioweapons to space policy are tracking how rapidly emerging technology will change how nations project their influence, including in war.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThere\u2019s no question emerging technologies are a factor in the Ukraine conflict, Sweijs says. Drones and artificial intelligence have certainly played their roles. However, Sweijs sees a convergence in old and new technologies and techniques that military leaders and policymakers should consider as they think about future military force structure and spending.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI see super-empowered individuals with the power to turn off and on satellite access that can be used for targeting. I see a launching ground for the deployment of robots and semi-autonomous systems, or perhaps autonomous systems,\u201d he said. \u201cWe see real-time intelligence derived from space assets. We see constellations of surveillance drones\u201d among other coming innovations.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSo yes, there\u2019s a lot to be said about the new technologies, but there\u2019s also the old,\u201d he said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAdm. James \u201cSandy\u201d Winnefeld, retired vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and a distinguished professor of the practice in the Nunn School, also spoke at the session. He said the Ukraine conflict has shown the value of \u201csmall, smart things\u201d such as drones and hand-held missile systems over traditional military assets such as tanks or helicopters.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEmerging technologies are just beginning to alter modern conflicts, he said. But he said that day is coming, and the U.S. should do more to prepare for it, especially when it comes to artificial intelligence, he said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022AI is barely on the battlefield right now, but machine learning is becoming increasingly important in logistics, targeting, and real-time battlefield awareness. We are not yet seeing strategic breakthroughs, but that day is coming. It\u2019s important that we start preparing for when AI becomes a major force in future conflicts,\u201d he said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe talk was supported by a generous gift from Bank of America.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe conflict in Ukraine is showing the world a lot about the future of warfare, and it\u2019s not all satellites and AI, conflict scholar Tim Sweijs told students and faculty during a recent Georgia Tech visit.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The conflict in Ukraine is showing the world a lot about the future of warfare, and it\u2019s not all satellites and AI, conflict scholar Tim Sweijs told students and faculty during a recent Georgia Tech visit. "}],"uid":"34600","created_gmt":"2024-10-09 19:10:23","changed_gmt":"2024-10-10 19:50:19","author":"mpearson34","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-10-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-10-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"675267":{"id":"675267","type":"image","title":"PXL_20241008_153655072.MP_.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EJenna Jordan, left, associate professor and associate chair in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, talks with Tim Sweij, director of research at The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies and a senior research fellow at the Netherlands Defence Academy\u0027s War Studies Research Centre, during a visit to Georgia Tech on Oct. 8, 2024.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1728501064","gmt_created":"2024-10-09 19:11:04","changed":"1728501064","gmt_changed":"2024-10-09 19:11:04","alt":"Two people talking in front of a seated audience","file":{"fid":"258871","name":"PXL_20241008_153655072.MP_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/10\/09\/PXL_20241008_153655072.MP_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/10\/09\/PXL_20241008_153655072.MP_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":6096395,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/10\/09\/PXL_20241008_153655072.MP_.jpg?itok=jK1REB-d"}}},"media_ids":["675267"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"},{"id":"1285","name":"Sam Nunn School of International Affairs"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71901","name":"Society and Culture"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:michael.pearson@iac.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EMichael Pearson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EIvan Allen College of Liberal Arts\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["michael.pearson@iac.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}