course can be enrolled in outside the study plan enabled for web enrollment priority enrollment if the course is part of the study plan you can enroll for the course in winter and in summer semester
The course Technology and Warfare responds to a structural shift in the European security environment characterised by rearmament, renewed great-power competition, and accelerated military-technological change. European states are simultaneously modernising their armed forces, rebuilding defence industrial capacity, and attempting to anticipate future forms of warfare under conditions of strategic uncertainty.
Against this background, the course treats military technology not as a neutral or deterministic driver of war, but as a socio-technical system, whose military effectiveness, political meaning, and ethical implications are shaped by institutional, economic, organisational, and cultural contexts.
The course is explicitly policy-relevant but not policy-prescriptive: its objective is not to train technologists or acquisition specialists, but analytically competent graduates capable of critically engaging with technology-related defence debates in ministries, armed forces, international organisations, and the defence industry.
Last update: Kučera Tomáš, Mgr. et Mgr., Ph.D. (05.02.2026)
The course Technology and Warfare responds to a structural shift in the European security environment characterised by rearmament, renewed great-power competition, and accelerated military-technological change. European states are simultaneously modernising their armed forces, rebuilding defence industrial capacity, and attempting to anticipate future forms of warfare under conditions of strategic uncertainty.
Against this background, the course treats military technology not as a neutral or deterministic driver of war, but as a socio-technical system, whose military effectiveness, political meaning, and ethical implications are shaped by institutional, economic, organisational, and cultural contexts.
The course is explicitly policy-relevant but not policy-prescriptive: its objective is not to train technologists or acquisition specialists, but analytically competent graduates capable of critically engaging with technology-related defence debates in ministries, armed forces, international organisations, and the defence industry.
Last update: Kučera Tomáš, Mgr. et Mgr., Ph.D. (05.02.2026)
Aim of the course
Expected learning outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
Analyse military technology as a socio-technical system by integrating strategic, organisational, political-economic, and ethical perspectives.
Critically evaluate claims about technological change in warfare, including revolutions, transformations, and technological superiority, using historical evidence and strategic reasoning.
Formulate and justify analytically grounded judgements on military technology policy under conditions of uncertainty and incomplete information.
Last update: Kučera Tomáš, Mgr. et Mgr., Ph.D. (05.02.2026)
Course completion requirements
Assessment structure:
·E-learning quizzes: 20 %
·Reading tests: 30 %
·Written assignment (in-class): 30 %
·Active seminar participation: 20 %
Last update: Kučera Tomáš, Mgr. et Mgr., Ph.D. (05.02.2026)
Literature
Biddle, Stephen. ‘The Past as Prologue: Assessing Theories of Future Warfare’. Security Studies 8, no. 1 (1 September 1998): 1–74. doi:10.1080/09636419808429365.
Boot, Max. War Made New: Weapons, Warriors, and the Making of the Modern World. New York, N.Y.: Gotham Books, 2007.
Buzan, Barry. An Introduction to Strategic Studies: Military Technology and Internat. Relations. Studies in International Security. Basingstoke: Macmillan Pr. [u.a.], 1987.
Fritsch, Stefan. ‘Technology and Global Affairs’. International Studies Perspectives 12, no. 1 (February 2011): 27–45. doi:10.1111/j.1528-3585.2010.00417.x.
MacKenzie, Donald. ‘Technology and the Arms Race’. International Security 14, no. 1 (1 July 1989): 161–75. doi:10.2307/2538768.
Murray, Williamson. “Thinking about Revolutions in Military Affairs.” Joint Forces Quarterly, Summer 1997.
Raudzens, George. ‘War-Winning Weapons: The Measurement of Technological Determinism in Military History’. The Journal of Military History 54, no. 4 (1 October 1990): 403–34. doi:10.2307/1986064.
Reppy, Judith. ‘The Technological Imperative in Strategic Thought’. Journal of Peace Research 27, no. 1 (1 February 1990): 101–6.
Van Evera, Stephen. ‘Offense, Defense, and the Causes of War’. International Security 22, no. 4 (April 1998): 5–43. doi:10.1162/isec.22.4.5.
Last update: Kučera Tomáš, Mgr. et Mgr., Ph.D. (02.09.2019)
