The Middle East conflict is heading toward “World War 2030,” although Donald Trump’s victory may halt its speed. But the threat is real. Think of “future warfare trends” beyond 2040 and imagine what can happen.
Long ago, an English philosopher, Aldous Huxley, wrote a novel, “Brave New World” (1932), in which he presented a portrayal of society and exhibited his “vision of a future dominated by technological advancement and control” and amazingly nearly a century now it feels as if he wrote it yesterday.
Correspondingly, Israel’s “pager attack” against Hezbollah members in Lebanon using explosives hiding inside the batteries of pagers this September has opened a Pandora's box to what could happen next. Since then, we have a question in our minds: Are we on the verge of a tech death? Is it the beginning of the end of smart technologies ranging from mobile phones, laptops, smart glasses and cameras?
Probably not a simple equation. Yuval Noah Harari's most recent book, “Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI” (2024), is a timely reminder and a testament that; “We are on the verge of destroying ourselves.”
Harari is right when highly educated members of most advanced nations, such as the ordinary Jewish communities in Israelis and America, despite their opposition to war, so far seem to have failed to halt Israeli aggression. Hence, worryingly, the future of humanity is undoubtedly at high risk of elimination. So far, even within the boundaries of the democratic West, millions of peace-loving marches from New York to Paris and London are at the risk of job loss, impressment, and stripped of citizenships because of their pro-peace stance.
Sky News security and defense editor Deborah Haynes argues, “There is a long history of Israel being accused of using inventive methods to eliminate its enemies.” The fact of the matter is that Israel’s imagined and unimagined enemy list is fast growing, so it’s not only the Muslim world, but Coptic Christians in the Middle East and Orthodox Christians in Russia are also on its hit list.
Since the start of the current invasion of Gaza, Israel has expanded its attacks to Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran. Will it top in Iran? Given the Israeli’s official war strategy, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wisely forecasted, “Türkiye is the next target.”
Today, we are witnessing “many tech fronts in the Middle East,” modern “technology is remaking war,” and therefore, the Middle Eastern states have “to choose between China and the U.S.” for “tech-war crossfire,” Indeed, the Middle East continues to be a battleground for the superpowers equipped with advanced technology. For decades, the world’s advanced nations have been competing for the Middle East’s wealth using their modern and cutting-edge warfare technologies. Given the ongoing tech war, it seems the time is fast approaching when technology will eliminate humanity. Is it an illusion or an emerging fact?
This is a brief story of innovative weaponry in the modern war era. Imagine the breakthroughs ranging from killing virus anthrax to AI-powered cyber-attacks, UAVs, drones to hidden devices (chips), mobile phones filled with explosives, hypersonic and guided missiles to laser weapons, stealth bombers to “self-guided aircrafts” spread of deadly viruses, where are we heading?
Elon Musk, known for his future high-tech calculations, revealed, “U.S. Navy just created something so advanced it can’t be stopped.” What is that weapon? No one knows yet. A recent DW documentary, “What the new ‘tech cold war’ means for the world,” uncovers fifth-generation warfare and a never-ending battle among the U.S., China, and Russia engaging in developing high-tech deadly weapons. Where is the world heading? A tech revolution for the betterment of humanity or a fearsome battle to reduce mankind?
Three months before the Hamas attack of “Oct. 7” 2023, on Israel, The Economist published a feature article, “A new era of high-tech war has begun,” and signaled that “technology has transformed the battlefield. Democracies must respond accordingly.” Evidently, The Economist addressed the Western nations that were heavily engaged directly or indirectly in wars and conflicts in distant lands.
Evidence shows that Gaza has long been a high-tech weapon testing laboratory for Israel. Antony Loewenstein's book, “The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World” (2023), explains how Israel gained a position as the world leader in “spying technology.”
Recall a series of assassinations of high-profile democratically elected leaders in Iran, Latin America, and the Middle East to Asia and Africa, how high-tech technology has played its malicious role. From murdering Iranian scientists, military officials and politicians to Hamas and Hezbollah resistance leaders, Israel has exhibited High-Tech weaponry. This may well continue as you read it. Possibly, there will be more assassinations in the Middle East that involve advanced weapons that we have not seen or heard before.
In the era of technological advancement, recently, Al-Jazeera documented its investigations on Gaza atrocities best illustrated as “the first livestream genocide in history” as Israeli soldiers dancing, celebrating, and posting videos of the Palestinian death and destruction on TikTok.
Think of such inhuman illustrations of celebrating wilful slaughters on camera; isn’t it signaling a reduction of human value values? An eminent Israeli professor, Neve Gordon, views Israel’s presentation of “Palestinians as ‘animals’ to legitimate war crimes,” while professor Amos Goldberg branded it “genocide.”
Worryingly, as the invading Israeli soldiers’ vicious behaviors and the ill-use of modern technologies continue to exhibit hostile gestures, more disturbing episodes of inhumane treatment of Palestinians, Lebanese and possibly others will bear witness in the future.
While it is evident that technology has added value and brought ease to human lives, smart technologies are also damaging mankind. Now, an unending rivalry among the world's major powers for hegemony brought us to a point of no return. There is traceable evidence of “Big tech’s complicity in genocide” in Gaza.
Looking at the technological advancements and smartly controlled digital democracies using “Artificial Intelligence,” The question arises, “Can democracy survive in the information age?” As the conflict escalates in the Middle East, how do authoritarian states control the Gen-Z generation?
Most importantly, how high-tech war unfolds in the Middle East as the West supports Israel while Russia and China back Iran. So far, Israel and Iran have displayed the best “aerial defense system,” GPS jamming,
Imagine if the human intellect, Vigor, and billions of dollars could be used to uplift disease, hunger and poverty, and our planet would be a lovely place to live. Isn’t it? Can we work together for peace and say it out loud #NoToWar and #YesToPeace.
Hopes never die, and therefore, one can think that “a wider Middle East war can still be stopped,” Recall an epic dialogue from a popular movie, “Kingdom of Heaven,” when Sultan Salahuddin Ayyubi accepted King Richard’s proposal for the truce, “Peaceful withdrawal or we all die here.”
