Antoine Bousquet is Associate Professor at the Swedish Defence University, Stockholm. He is the author of The Eye of War: Military Perception from the Telescope to the Drone (University of Minnesota Press, 2018) and The Scientific Way of Warfare: Order and Chaos on the Battlefields of Modernity (Hurst, 2009). He has contributed an array of peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on subjects that include nuclear war, the revolution in military affairs, jihadist networks, complexity theory, violent aesthetics, nihilism, and the conceptualisation of war.

In today's episode we interview Antoine Bousquet, an associate professor at the Swedish Defense University, on his book 'The Eye of War.' The book offers a unique historical account of military perception, from the invention of the telescope to the modern-day drone. Bousquet talks about the evolution of military strategies and technologies such as the use of linear perspective, geographic information systems (GIS), and lasers. He also discusses the concept of global surveillance and the challenges posed by operations that blend into civilian society, such as suicide bombings. Additionally, Bousquet delves into the implications of autonomous drones and the complex issue of agency in war, as well as the possible legal recourse for the use of autonomous weapons.

00:02 Introduction to the Eye of War

01:11 Understanding the Concept of the Eye of War

03:22 The Evolution of Military Perception

04:39 The Role of Linear Perspective in Modern Military Technologies

14:11 The Impact of Laser Technology on Military Perception

26:37 The Influence of Digitized Mapping and GIS on Military Strategy

41:05 The Emergence of Hyper Camouflaged Warfare

50:16 The Future of Autonomous Drones in Warfare

58:38 Conclusion: The Changing Landscape of Military Perception

Questions:

1. What does the Eye of War refer to within the context of your book?

2. How did the development of linear perspectiveduring the Renaissance give rise to the modern military technologies of sensing, targeting and mapping?

3. By "marshalling photons into a lethal beam", does the laser represent the fulfilment of the "martial gaze"; the Gorgon's stare that at once completes the "alignment of perspective with annihilation" while threatening to blind the very eye that gave rise to it?

4. Contra Borges, with the emergence of digitised mapping and geographic information systems (GIS), can the map now exceed the territory?

5. Has the success of global surveillance given rise to the "hyper-camouflaged" suicide bomber, whose "fluid military concealment" in plain clothes right at the heart of civil society leads to the "endo-militarisation of peace", dissolving any delineation between military and civilian space?

6. With the rise of autonomous drones, do we face the total alienation of all human agency from military perception?

---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/hypervelocity/message