Politically, new military technology cause many issues. A huge part of controversies concerning war has to do with the amount of civilian casualties caused by fighting. By international war laws concerning ethics, if a military assault is going to cause more civilian casualties than is worth, than that military assault should not happen. David Hambling, author of an essay on the politics of military technology, states this in more eloquent words.
"The insurgents have no chance in pitched battles, even on the smallest scale. Precision weapons and good communications mean that the Coalition can call up devastating firepower at will. But the insurgents realise that killing even small numbers of Coalition troops might undermine the West’s political will to continue. Equally, the Coalition forces know that keeping their casualties to a minimum is an absolute priority, as no other factor is likely to force them out. So it is the improvement in defensive technology that is most significant in ensuring that they can continue operations."
As this video states, technology and politics go hand in hand. China is a growing superpower within the military technology sector, even though it has not come close to spending the amount of money the U.S. does. Nonetheless, China is still on its' way to becoming more technologically advanced than the U.S. when it comes to military technology.
http://www.e-ir.info/2008/08/15/the-politics-of-military-technology-war-without-our-blood/
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