SciAm's December article on future high-tech carnage cites: "The Mesh and the Net: Speculations on Armed Conflict in a Time of Free Silicon," by Martin C. Libicki, March, 1994. (233kb) Available on the Web at: <http://www.ndu.edu/ndu/inss/macnair/mcnair28/m028cont.html> NDU is the National Defense University, Libicki's teat. He is quoted: "We're getting a lot of clever ideas about how to fight a Gulf War more efficiently, but we rarely get anything about how to fight a Vietnam more efficiently." Here are excerpts from his preface: Mesh -- the term applied to military applications -- points to the holes; as information technology places a finer mesh atop the battlefield, more objects are caught in it. Net -- the term applied to civilian applications -- points to the substance of the system; the connectivity of people and their machines suggests new patterns of social relationships and new venues for conflict. Silicon, that which is to become free, stands for both semiconductor chips (for computation) and optical fibers (for communications). Argument: The relationship of the once and future revolution in information technology to warfare is analyzed in several steps: * Chapter One outlines the basis for this revolution and explains why its most natural expression is the dispersion rather than accumulation of information power. * Chapter Two examines its expression on the battlefield in three aspects: Pop-up warfare, the rise of the Mesh, and the evolution of Fire-ant warfare. * Chapter Three examines whether the revolution on the battlefield translates into a commensurate revolution in military organization. * Chapter Four discusses implications for acquisition, research and development. * Chapter Five extends the analysis to the case of low-intensity conflict. * Chapter Six attempts a broader assessment of how civilian applications of information technology, the Net, may affect national security. * Chapter Seven contrasts the Mesh, and the Net. * The Epilogue considers certain reasons why information technology may not translate into the victory of the Small and the Many over the Few and the Large. ----- <www.ndu.edu/ndu/inss> and links offer an ape-lab of global insecurity ebolas.