I'm not an expert, but I think that bombs have improved substantially in a number of ways over the last two hundred years:
- accuracy of remote detonation - size - lots of smaller, powerful bombs - availability of household chemicals that can easily be used to make bombs (see the Oklahoma City bombing) Fabio On Thu, 27 May 2004, Robin Hanson wrote: > Are you sure much has changed in the tech of insurgent bombs? There is a > recent innovation in using cell phones to trigger them, but overall I > thought they hadn't really changed so much over the last two hundred years. > > On 5/27/2004, Fabio Rojas wrote: > >I'd disagree. There is a basic asymmetry in colonial situations. The > >colonists are small in number and high visibility but the natives are huge > >in number and it is very hard to pick out insurgents from the rest of the > >population. Given that set up, advances in bomb technology seem to give a > >relative advantage to insurgents. > > > > > >- mature anti-colonial propaganda programs such as nationalism and > > > >communism. > > > >- use of automatic weapons, high explosives and related tactics > > > >- use of news media to conduct information and psychological warfare. ... > > > >- use of modern communications technologies (print, radio, Internet, > > > >satellite TV, etc.) for financing, recruitment and coordination. > > > > > > None of these have obviously improved the abilities of insurgency > > > *relative* to anti-insurgency, as far as I can see. Both sides have > > > better weapons, propaganda, and communications. > > > Robin Hanson [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://hanson.gmu.edu > Assistant Professor of Economics, George Mason University > MSN 1D3, Carow Hall, Fairfax VA 22030-4444 > 703-993-2326 FAX: 703-993-2323 >
