In recent decades, government and military officials, alike have pushed increasingly in the direction of “bloodless wars,†where confrontations are undertaken-and ultimately won-with minimum loss of human life. Robert Mandel provides the first comprehensive analysis of this trend. After exploring the moral, legal, military, and political bases of the desire to minimize wartime casualties, Mandel examines the actual strategies and tools involved; here the focus is on nonlethal weapons, precision-guided munitions, and information warfare. He then addresses the sobering practical constraints on aspirations to minimize casualties. His concluding review of policy options draws lessons from premodern patterns of warfare and calls for a more realistic understanding of the strategies available in today’s security environment.
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