Means Becoming Aim-in-itself?A Virilioan Problematization of the Armed Drones

Year 2019, Volume: 11 Issue: 20, 67 - 92, 17.04.2019

Metin Gürcan

Abstract

In contemporary armed conflicts, science and technology increasingly plays a determining role and decisively shape outcomes. This techno-scientific discourse has led to development of cutting edge weapon systems, with armed drone as its prime example. This paper aims to explore the interaction of armed drones with strategy making, culture and politics that has barely begun and calls for a critical awareness to tame emerging pro-armed drone discourse that seems to subjugate political processes and strategic decision-making mechanisms in all over the globe. To achive this, the article critically engages in the debate over the relationship between strategy and technique through the problematization of the drone warfare relying on the conceptions Paul Virilio. Paul Virilio, a reputable French military philosopher yet poorly studied by the Turkish academia, problematizes the relationship of speed, technology and warfare, and thus, provides an effective conceptual tool box for the critical security studies when analyzing the conduct and consequences of the drone warfare.

Keywords

Paul Virilio, drone warfare, military technology, armed drones, military strategy

Araç Amaç mı Oluyor? Silahlı İHA’lar Hakkında Virilioan Bir Tartışma

Abstract

Günümüzde yaşanan silahlı çatışmalarda, bilim ve teknoloji gittikçe belirleyici bir rol oynamakta ve bu çatışmaların sonuçlarını büyük ölçüde şekillendirmektedir. Son yıllarda tekno- bilimsel diskur en çok silahlı insansız hava araçlarının (SİHA) gelişmesine yol açmaktadır. Bu makale, stratejik karar alma mekanizmalarını etkisi altına almış görünen SİHA’lara yönelik eleştirel bir farkındalık oluşturma amacındadır. SİHA konusunda strateji, kültür ve siyaset arasındaki etkileşimi de irdelemeye çalışan çalışma, ünlü Fransız askeri filozof Paul Virilio’nun kavramlarına dayanarak SİHA örnek olayı üzerinden strateji ve teknik arasındaki ilişkiye odaklanmaktadır. Henüz Türkiye’de hakkında yeterince akademik çalışma bulunmayan Paul Virilio; hız, teknoloji ve savaş arasındaki ilişkiyi sorgulamaktadır. Bu yüzden, silahlı çatışmalarda giderek amaca dönüştüğü görülen araçlar haline gelen SİHA’ların yarattığı gerçekliği anlamlandırmada ve SİHA tartışmalarına eleştirisel bir katkı sunmada Virilio’nun kavramsallaştırmaları önem kazanmaktadır.

Keywords

Silahlı İHA, askeri teknoloji, Paul Virilio

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