Evaluating Weather Warfare in Alternative Futures A Game Changer in Future Power Rivalry

Abstract

Weather warfare or in other words weather modification, finds its place in warfare history in the past and in emerging technologies in the present context. During different eras of world history amidst being challenged for its legality and environmental impact, weather modifications survived under the shield of scientific purposes. Against this backdrop, weather warfare being the elephant in the room in power rivalry, this paper finds it imperative to evaluate its futuristic aspects in terms of alternative futures. Therefore, the problem statement of this paper is to answer the plausibility of weather warfare in alternative futures. In order to find feasible solutions, the methodology adopted in this paper is qualitative based on secondary sources including media and the internet and it is further analyzed using the four alternative scenarios for the future. The discussion includes evaluating the usage of weather warfare in the past, elaborating on the usage of weather warfare in the present context, revisiting the possible methods of weather warfare based on inventions in world history, critically examining the legality of weather warfare and finally to analyze weather warfare as a possible game changer in future world power rivalry. As a result, the main objective of this study is to unveil the plausibility of weather modification as a military strategy in alternative futures with its' possibility to identify as a game changer in world power rivalry.