WAR IS BIG business and I am at a conference about the business of war. It’s being held on the Gold Coast, near Jupiter’s Casino, deep in the belly of Baby Boomer avarice. An enormous banner hangs above the entrance to the conference proclaiming the theme: “War: Fighting in the 21st Century – New Threats, New Technologies”.

Consider a simple statistic from the Federation of American Scientists’ Military Network: “In World War II it could take 9,000 bombs to hit a target the size of an aircraft shelter. During the Vietnam War, 300. Today (the age of war), we can do it with one.”