Item category 2: POINTER Monthly Essays

The author has structured the essay in five parts. He first defines what Autonomous Weapon Systems (AWS) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are. He describes the rules that AWS are expected to operate under when dealing with combatants and non-combatants. He then explains why accounting for the act...

The author highlights that many contemporary military strategists and practitioners value the philosophiescontained in Carl Von Clausewitz’s classic On War and its relevance to present day conflict. On the other hand, thereare also speculation and debates over Clausewitz’s relevance to contempora...

Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, contended that the Industrial Revolutions (IRs) were the main driving force behind technological improvements. In the same vein, the author considers that the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), through various transformations, is now capable of execut...

In this essay, the author argues that currently, while there are limitations in Artificial Intelligence (AI) decision-making, it is too late to prohibit the use of autonomous technologies for future warfare. This is due to the potential of Autonomous Weapons Systems (AWS) as the next Revolution i...

In this essay, the author is of the opinion that the proliferation of cheap weaponised drones is not merely an incremental tactical innovation. He believes that, it provides non-state actors with a precision capability impervious to most defences and, is capable of targeting any military asset. T...

In this essay, the author argues for the proliferation of Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAV) in projecting air power in 2035, and highlights the concerns involved. The author first describes the likely security landscape in the years ahead. Next, he goes on to highlight the trends of UCAVs an...

In this essay, the author first defines deterrence and explains its concept and its key elements. He then explores the application of conventional deterrence strategies, whether it is through denial, or through punishment, and touch on its limitations. He proceeds to examine the existential natur...

In this essay, the author feels that threat assessments are the foundation of a state's national security policy. To explain how threat assessments become self-fulfilling prophecies, he has organised the essay into five parts. In the first part, the author highlights the features of threat assess...

In this essay, the author is not attempting to redefine deterrence but to encourage readers to consider the notion of acting before deterrence—through dissuasion. So what constitutes dissuasion and why consider it? The author feels that similar to deterrence, there is no direct answer as each cou...

According to the author, hybrid entities are state-sponsored groups which possess training, discipline and equipment, like state militaries. Where these groups lack high end equipment (e.g. tanks, aircraft), they compensate with asymmetric tactics of operating in urban environment and exploiting ...