War Virtually - by Roberto J González

About the Book

"A critical look at how the US military is weaponizing technology and data for new kinds of warfare--and why we must resist. War Virtually is the story of how scientists, programmers, and engineers are racing to develop data-driven technologies for fighting virtual wars, both at home and abroad. In this landmark book, Roberto J. Gonzâalez gives us a lucid and gripping account of what lies behind the autonomous weapons, robotic systems, predictive modeling software, advanced surveillance programs, and psyops techniques that are transforming the nature of military conflict. Gonzâalez, a cultural anthropologist, takes a critical approach to the techno-utopian view of these advancements and their dubious promise of a less deadly and more efficient warfare. With clear, accessible prose, this book exposes the high-tech underpinnings of contemporary military operations--and the cultural assumptions they're built on. Chapters cover automated battlefield robotics; social scientists' involvement in experimental defense research; the blurred line between political consulting and propaganda in the internet era; and the military's use of big data to craft new counterinsurgency methods based on predicting conflict. Gonzâalez also lays bare the processes by which the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies have quietly joined forces with Big Tech, raising an alarming prospect: that someday Google, Amazon, and other Silicon Valley firms might merge with some of the world's biggest defense contractors. War Virtually takes an unflinching look at an algorithmic future--where new military technologies threaten democratic governance and human survival"--

Book Synopsis

A critical look at how the US military is weaponizing technology and data for new kinds of warfare--and why we must resist.

War Virtually is the story of how scientists, programmers, and engineers are racing to develop data-driven technologies for fighting virtual wars, both at home and abroad. In this landmark book, Roberto J. González gives us a lucid and gripping account of what lies behind the autonomous weapons, robotic systems, predictive modeling software, advanced surveillance programs, and psyops techniques that are transforming the nature of military conflict. González, a cultural anthropologist, takes a critical approach to the techno-utopian view of these advancements and their dubious promise of a less deadly and more efficient warfare.
With clear, accessible prose, this book exposes the high-tech underpinnings of contemporary military operations--and the cultural assumptions they're built on. Chapters cover automated battlefield robotics; social scientists' involvement in experimental defense research; the blurred line between political consulting and propaganda in the internet era; and the military's use of big data to craft new counterinsurgency methods based on predicting conflict. González also lays bare the processes by which the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies have quietly joined forces with Big Tech, raising an alarming prospect: that someday Google, Amazon, and other Silicon Valley firms might merge with some of the world's biggest defense contractors. War Virtually takes an unflinching look at an algorithmic future--where new military technologies threaten democratic governance and human survival.

From the Back Cover

"González's War Virtually expertly covers an incredible breadth of nuanced topics, from US policy on autonomous weapons to the Pentagon's relationship with Silicon Valley and the militarization of anthropology. Each chapter's subject warrants a book in its own right, but González has provided concise overviews that carefully navigate the zoo of defense contractors and their acronyms."--Jack Poulson, Co-founder and Executive Director of Tech Inquiry

"A deeply researched reflection on the latest dark, hubristic dreams of a multitude of US planners using big data to wage war. González asks, 'What could go wrong?' And the answer, he discovers, is plenty."--Catherine Lutz, author of Homefront: A Military City and the American 20th Century

"González is one of our foremost analysts, and critics, of military uses of social science. Here he breaks new ground in an account of the military's fusion of artificial intelligence, data science, and social science that is both captivating and frightening as he gives us a glimpse of our dystopian future of data-driven warfare. Written in the style of the best science journalism, this book is hard to put down."--Hugh Gusterson, author of Drone: Remote Control Warfare

"A richly informative guide to the enrollment of behavioral sciences and digital tech in an American agenda of data-driven dominance. The tour includes key sites in the contemporary military-commercial-academic complex devoted to projects from psychological operations and soldier augmentation to robotic weapons and predictive modeling, along with vital pathways to resistance."--Lucy Suchman, Professor Emerita, Anthropology of Science and Technology, Lancaster University

Review Quotes

"A crucial and unsettling read."-- "European Legacy"

"War Virtually overall paints the picture of a strong entanglement between the Defense Department and Silicon Valley. . . The details reveal the absurdity and megalomania that characterize aspects of virtual war. . . . A great piece of well-founded scholarship."-- "Public Anthropologist"

"A chilling view of where warfare and security are headed. . . . There is nothing cute or gee-whiz or cool about the terrifying forms of emergent warfare and data technologies that González expertly details and analyzes in War Virtually."-- "Current Anthropology"

"González shows how surveillance thrives less on the machinations of evil men than on the pedestrian facts of political economy. . . . He scaffolds his analysis with character sketches of the social scientists, career generals, and Silicon Valley CEOs driving the development of virtual warfare."-- "Boston Review"

"The topics addressed by Roberto González in War Virtually ought to concern us all."-- "Science"

"War Virtually is a well-written and carefully researched work of activist social science aimed at describing and diagnosing the pathologies of military-driven datafication dreams. Both specialist and lay readers will gain a better appreciation of these often-invisible aspects of the militarization of American society."-- "Contemporary Sociology"

About the Author

Roberto J. González is Professor of Anthropology at San José State University. He has authored several books including Militarizing Culture: Essays on the Warfare State and American Counterinsurgency: Human Science and the Human Terrain.