Technology and Conflict: From the Industrial Revolution to Digital War

Military history clearly shows that every major technological innovation has profoundly transformed the nature of war. The introduction of gunpowder, the industrial revolution, mechanization, and ultimately nuclear weapons all redefined strategic balances and the logic of deterrence. Today we are witnessing a new phase in this long sequence: the digital revolution and the development of artificial intelligence have made war pervasive and continuous, extending it into domains without spatial boundaries or temporal limits. This transformation forces us to view technology not only as a factor of military superiority but as an element that reshapes the very boundaries between peace and conflict. Digital war is not an episodic phenomenon but a structural condition shaping both the present and the future of international relations.