Exclusive Preview: Mark Milley and Eric Schmidt on Why America Isn’t Ready for the Wars of the Future

Technology Is Transforming the Nature of Conflict | [Subscribe now for $5 off unlimited access to Foreign Affairs.]( [America Isn’t Ready for the Wars of the Future]( [And And They’re Already Here]( [By Mark A. Milley and Eric Schmidt]( [America Isn’t Ready for the Wars of the Future]( [And They’re Already Here]( [By Mark A. Milley and Eric Schmidt]( In the upcoming issue of Foreign Affairs, Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, writes for the first time since his retirement from the U.S. military in September 2023. In [an essay]( co-authored with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, he warns that the U.S. military is unprepared for how new technologies are transforming warfare. The wars of the future “will be dominated by increasingly autonomous weapons systems and powerful algorithms,” Milley and Schmidt write. If the United States wants to remain the preeminent global power, it will have to overhaul its entire defense apparatus—and ensure that robots and AI are deployed in an ethical manner. “Washington won’t get it exactly right,” Milley and Schmidt write. “But it must get it less wrong than its enemies.” [Read the essay]( Prefer to listen? Look for the play button on the article page. Prefer to listen? Look for the play button on the article page. © 2024 Council on Foreign Relations | 58 East 68th Street, New York NY | 10065 To ensure we can contact you, please add us to your email address book or safe list.This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Receiving too many emails? Unsubscribe and manage your email preferences [here.]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( [YouTube](