Thomas M. Hunt – författare

On August 26, 1960, twenty-three-year-old Danish cyclist Knud Jensen, competing in that year's Rome Olympic Games, suddenly fell from his bike and fractured his skull. His death hours later led to rumors that performance-enhancing drugs were in his system. Though certainly not the first instance of doping in the Olympic Games, Jensen's death serves as the starting point for Thomas M. Hunt's thoroughly researched, chronological history of the modern relationship of doping to the Olympics. Utilizing concepts derived from international relations theory, diplomatic history, and administrative law, this work connects the issue to global political relations.During the Cold War, national governments had little reason to support effective anti-doping controls in the Olympics. Both the United States and the Soviet Union conceptualized power in sport as a means of impressing both friends and rivals abroad. The resulting medals race motivated nations on both sides of the Iron Curtain to allow drug regulatory powers to remain with private sport authorities. Given the costs involved in testing and the repercussions of drug scandals, these authorities tried to avoid the issue whenever possible. But toward the end of the Cold War, governments became more involved in the issue of testing. Having historically been a combined scientific, ethical, and political dilemma, obstacles to the elimination of doping in the Olympics are becoming less restrained by political inertia.

Emerging technologies—from AI and robotics to digital gaming—are transforming the role of the human body in warfare, even as a decline in the mental and physical fitness of the U.S. population is presenting new challenges for building a strong military force. In light of these cultural changes, Fight Like a Machine: The Combat Future of the Human Body makes an eloquent case for rethinking what it means to be "fighting fit" in today's military—and what this means, in turn, for military recruitment, training, and strategy.Drawing on military history, kinesiology, and defense studies, Thomas M. Hunt argues that the traditional paradigm of physical prowess in warfare is being eclipsed by a new model of human-machine integration. His extensive research suggests that the conventional image of the soldier—defined by physical strength, speed, and endurance—is being reshaped by digital tools, robotics, and artificial intelligence. As seen in Ukraine and elsewhere, success in today's wars demands cognitive agility and technological fluency alongside brute military force—a trend that favors greater inclusion of women in combat roles, as well as greater emphasis on digital-native skill sets and the demands of human-machine collaboration. Ukraine, employing an armed force of largely middle-aged soldiers with great technical proficiency, offers a prime example of how nations must evolve militarily if they are to successfully conduct—or withstand—war.Hunt's book marks a starting point for just such an evolution—and lays out in clear, accessible terms what sort of change is needed, why, and what's at stake: nothing less than the future of the American military.