Technology, Serbians, and Albanians in Power over People by Daniel R, Headrick

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Recommended: European influence on the aztecs

Everything comes with pros and cons, and so are technology and utilization of air force. However, there are many incidents where people only remember the advantages while neglecting the side effects those brought. One of the famous incidents is Kosovo war that is known to bring human rights to people who are deprived of it due to their different ethnicity, but we cannot simply conclude that the Serbians were the aggressors and Albanians were the victims. Similarly, on the one hand, the superior technology acquired by the NATO and the US demonstrated that technology means power to achieve what they want. On the other hand, the technology that people developed can bring disaster to people by increasing the death rate during the war and exploit other people’s resources, supporting the perspectives of Power over People by Daniel R. Headrick.
The contribution of the technology, especially the air power of NATO and the US, cannot be denied. The issue ended quickly and cheaply since there were barely any ground troops and navy sailors sent to fight against the Serbians. One of the main weapons that the air force used was precision-guided munitions. These planes could deliver ordnance, surveillance, and commit bombardments. Also these planes created less panic among the civilians because these planes did less harm to the various civilian infrastructures. These methods were not available without the help or the development of the technology. The superiority of technology of the external force made Serbian military to panic and finally drove them out. The advancement of aviation enabled NATO to be on top of the enemies and be at a lost what to do. Headrick’s book Power over People also supports the point that the development of the air...

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...her example is Aztec. The firearms of Spaniards when combined with diseases devastated the local people. Also the advancement of medical technology enabled Spaniards to be safer than the local people who are scientifically inferior to Europeans. At the end, the Spaniards easily take over the land of local people and exploit their resources. As all these cases demonstrate, better technology granted more power to people, and as people gain more power, they have the tendency to dominate and exploit other people.
Albanians were not only victims while Serbians were not only aggressors. They both are victims and aggressors. Technology, similarly both helped people and harmed people. The Kosovo war advocates the idea from Headrick’s Power over People stating that technology help people to achieve what they want; technology worsen people’s lives; technology means power.

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