Law and the Future of War

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Through conversation with experts in technology, law and military affairs, this series explores how new military technology and international law interact. Produced by Dr Lauren Sanders at The University of Queensland School of Law.

UQ Law and the Future of War


    • May 7, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 41m AVG DURATION
    • 94 EPISODES
    • 6 SEASONS


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    Latest episodes from Law and the Future of War

    The Geneva Conventions at sea - André Smit (ICRC)

    Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2025 53:28


    Send us a textAs part of the 75th anniversary series on the Gevena Conventions, Lauren Sanders speaks to André Smit - the ICRC Regional Legal Adviser on Maritime Matters (Asia-Pacific) when he visited Australia in September 2024. They discuss the applicability of Geneva Convention II (GC II) on the Amerlioraton to the region and challenges for states in applying their obligations under GC II in the event of a maritime conflict in the region. André supports the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Asia and the Pacific region from the ICRC Regional Resources Network (RRN) in Thailand. The role focusses on advancing the regional understanding of international humanitarian law applicable to armed conflict at sea, strengthening the application of other legal protection regimes at sea, supporting the work of other ICRC métiers and ICRC Delegations on related files, and supporting the ICRC institutional thinking on its future positioning in Asia and the Pacific. His work experience includes practising law; serving as officer in the South African National Defence Force; and service in the South African Foreign Ministry as counsel to Government on International Law. In the military, he served at unit-, training-, Joint Operations-, and Defence Headquarters-levels retiring as a senior officer supporting policy and international law. He provided operational legal support to operations and supported the force preparation of naval infantry, maritime air operations squadrons (helicopter and fixed wing), the submarine service. The culmination of his time as an instructor was serving as Director of the Departmental Course on International Humanitarian Law. After military service, as State Law Adviser (International Law) in the foreign Ministry, he fulfilled legal and diplomatic functions (at the level of counsellor), represented the Government in various bilateral and multilateral diplomatic forums, and co-drafted South Africa's submissions to the International Court of Justice. He was a long-standing member of the South African National Committee on International Humanitarian Law. He lectured at various universities and other training institutions on topics including air and space law, law of the sea, the interfaces of human rights and international humanitarian law in military operations, and at different diplomatic academies with minor publications on related topics of maritime operations. 

    The Geneva Conventions and Non-State Armed Groups - Katharine Fortin

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 15, 2025 46:29


    Send us a textIn this episode, Simon speaks with Dr Katharine Fortin about non-international armed conflicts, focussing on the intersections between IHL, international human rights law and armed non-State actors. Dr Katharine Fortin is a senior lecturer of public international law and human rights at Utrecht University's Netherlands Institute of Human Rights. She is the Editor in Chief of the Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights and founder of the Armed Groups and International Law blog. Her book The Accountability of Armed Groups under Human Rights Law (OUP, 2017) won the Lieber Prize in 2018. She is Co-Investigator on the Beyond Compliance Consortium: Building Evidence on Promoting Restraint by Armed Actors. Katharine has a LLM and PhD from the Utrecht University. She is a qualified solicitor in the UK and previously worked at Norton Rose Fulbright, the Council of Churches of Sierra Leone, the ICC and the ICTY.Additional resources:Fortin, Katharine ‘Mapping Calamities: Capturing the Competing Legalities of Spaces under the Control of armed non State Actors without erasing everyday civilian life' (2023) 8(1) Social Science and Humanities OpenMatthew Bamber-Zryd, 'ICRC engagement with armed groups in 2024' Humanitarian Law & Policy Blog (31 October 2024)Katharine Fortin and Ezequiel Heffes (eds), Armed Groups and International Law: In the Shadowland of Legality and Illegality (Edward Elgar, 2023)Naz Modirzadeh, 'Cut These Words: Passion and International Law of War Scholarship' (2020) 61(1) Harvard International Law Journal 1.Zoe Pearson, 'Spaces of International Law' (2008) 17 Griffith Law Review 489.Helen Kinsella, The Image Before the Weapon: A Critical History of the Distinction between Combatant and Civilian (Cornell University Press, 2015)Kieran McIvoy, 'Beyond Legalism: Towards a Thicker Understanding of Transitional Justice' (2007) 34(4) Journal of Law and Society 411.Sally Engle Merry, The Seductions of Quantification: Measuring Human Rights, Gender Violence and Sex Trafficking (University of Chicago Press, 2016)Ana Arjona, Rebelocracy: Social Order in the Colombian Civil War (CUP, 2016)Zachariah Cherian Mampilly, Rebel Rulers: Insurgent

    The Geneva Conventions in History - Helen Kinsella and Giovanni Mantilla

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 1, 2025 57:22


    Send us a textIn this episode, Simon speaks to Professor Helen Kinsella and Associate Professor Giovanni Mantilla, two leading experts on the history and formation of the Geneva Conventions and IHL more generally. They discuss the negotiations leading up the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol, exploring some of the political tensions that sits behind the provisions of these key legal texts. This includes how the law treats non-state actors and non-international armed conflict, as well who gets the right to wage war. Helen Kinsella is a Professor of Political Science and Law at the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on the theorization of gender and armed conflict and she is currently working on a book on sleep in war and another on the histories of the laws of war through the United States' wars against Native peoples.  She is the author of The Image before the Weapon (Cornell University Press, 2011), which won the 2012 Sussex International Theory Prize. Helen has a PhD in Political Science and an MA in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and a BA in Political Science and Gender Studies from Bryn Mawr College.Giovanni Mantilla is an Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and International Studies at Cambridge University, Fellow of Christ's College, and Fellow of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law. His research focusses on the operation of multilateralism, particularly practices of social pressure and pressure management in diplomacy, global governance, and international legal processes. His book Lawmaking under Pressure: International Humanitarian Law and Internal Armed Conflict (Cornell University Press, 2020) received the 2021 Francis Lieber award.Additional ResourcesHelen M Kinsella and Giovanni Mantilla, 'Contestation before Compliance: History, Politics, and Power in International Humanitarian Law' (2020) 64(3) International Studies Quarterly 649.Helen Kinsella, 'Settler Empire and the United States: Francis Lieber on the Laws of War' (2023) 117(2) American Political Science Review 629.  Vasuki Nesiah, International Conflict Feminism: Theory, Practice, Challenges (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2024)Thomas Gregory, Weaponizing Civilian Protection (Oxford University Press, 2025)Tom Dannenbaum, 'Siege Starvation: A War Crime of Societal Torture' (2021) 22(2) Chicago Journal of International Law 368.Boyd Van Dijk, Preparing for War: The Making of the Geneva Conventions (Oxford University Press, 2022) Craig Jones, The War Lawyers: The United States, Israel and Juridical Warfare (Oxford University Press, 2020)Janina Dill, Legitimate Targets? Social Construction, International Law and US Bombing (Cambridge University Press, 2014)

    75 Years of the Geneva Conventions - Lauren Sanders and Simon McKenzie

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2024 24:38


    Send us a textIn this series introduction, Dr Lauren Sanders and Dr Simon McKenzie talk about the Geneva Conventions, and what is in store for the Law and the Future of War podcast over the next few months.

    A functional approach to the legal review of Autonomous Weapon Systems - webinar recording

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2024 92:11


    Send us a textThis episode is a recording of the  Asia-Pacific Institute for Law and Security  webinar hosted on 21 November 2024 on the functional approach to the legal review of autonomous weapon systems (AWS).AWS are no longer limited to science fiction. Conflicts in the Ukraine and Gaza demonstrate an increased trend toward the use of autonomy in the use of force in armed conflict. This webinar will focus on the legal review obligation under Article 36 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, and will consider how states can determine the legality of AWS. The event will launch a new book by Dr Damian Copeland on the topic and include a panel of experts discussing the challenges in ensuring the development and use of AWS are lawful and ethical.Ms Vanessa Wood (Australia's Ambassador for Arms Control Counter-Proliferation) will make some opening remarks, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Dr Lauren Sanders (APILS). Dr Wen Zhou (ICRC Legal Division), Ms Netta Goussac (SIPRI), Dr Natalia Jevglevskaja (APILS) and Dr Damian Copeland (APILS) will speak on the panel. Dr Rain Liivoja (APILS) will host the webinar.See Dr Copeland's book here:  A Functional Approach to the Legal Review of Autonomous Weapon Systems, Brill International Humanitarian Law Series Volume 72, 2024. 

    Regulation of novel technology: Trusted Autonomous Systems: Simon Ng and Clare East

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 20, 2024 47:56


    In this episode we continue our futures mini-series, and speak with Dr Simon Ng and Ms Clare East about the challenges of adopting novel technology and influencing its regulation. In particular, as the Chief Scientist and Manager of Law, Regulation and Assurance at the Trusted Autonomous Defence Cooperative Research Centre, we hope to tease out the regulatory and engineering challenges associated with advancing adoption of novel military technologies that have been learned through TAS' tenure.Dr Simon Ng is Chief Technology Officer at TAS. Graduating from Monash University with a PhD in 1998, he completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at CSIRO before joining DSTG, where he developed techniques for military operations experimentation, and applied systems methods to surveillance and response, space operations and autonomous aerial systems. He was previously DSTG Group Leader for the Joint Systems Analysis and Aerial Autonomous Systems Groups, and Associate Director of the Defence Science Institute. He is Australia's National Lead on The Technical Cooperation Program Technical Panel “UAS Integration into the Battlespace”, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.  Clare East is General Manager – Law, Regulation & Assurance at TAS, and Director of East Consulting Services. Clare is a lawyer by background with significant expertise in modern regulatory approaches, and has helped a range of different organisations respond to and harness the challenges and opportunities posed by rapid change. Clare has more than ten years in public policy and regulation, having started her career at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet before moving on to a number of private and public sector roles, including as Manager, Maritime Regulation at the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and Director, Regulatory Standards and Policy at the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator.Additional resources:Alondra Nelson, The Right Way to Regulate AI: Focus on Its Possibilities, Not Its Perils, Foreign Affairs, 12 January 2024J. Robert Oppenheimer,  International Control of Atomic Energy, Foreign Affairs,  January 1948Kazuo Ishiguro,  Klara and the Sun, 2021Robotic and Autonomous Systems Gateway (RAS Gateway), Trusted Autonomous Systems Rachel Horne (2024) Navigating to smoother regulatory waters for Australian commercial vessels capable of remote or autonomous operation. PhD by Publication, Queensland University of Technology.Australian Department of Industry, Science and Resources,  The Australian Government's interim response to safe and responsible AI consultation, January 2024 

    The Woomera Manual on the International Law of Military Space Operations - Dale Stephens

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 5, 2024 43:32


    In this episode we hear from Professor Dale Stephens on the long-awaited release of The Woomera Manual on the International Law of Military Space Operations, how it came about, what it is intended to do, and where international law might be headed in relation to military space operations - as well as the challenges in drafting an international law Manual dealing with the law in a highly changing and novel domain.  Released in May this year, the Woomera Manual focuses on the law as it is, and creates a set of Rules and accompanying Commentary dealing with international law in a military space context.Professor Dale Stephens CSM FAAL is a Professor at the University of Adelaide and a Captain in the Royal Australian Navy Reserve. He has occupied senior legal positions in the Australian Defence Force and undertook numerous operational deployments. He is Director of the Adelaide University Research Unit on Military Law and Ethics. He researches and teaches in the areas of International Law, Space Law, Military Operations Law and Law of Armed Conflict. He is Chair of the SA Red Cross IHL Committee. He was awarded his LL.M and SJD from Harvard Law School and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. Additional Resources:The Woomera ManualThe Artemis Accords OEWG on Responsible Behaviours in Space

    Bounded Autonomy, Meaningful Human Control and Military AI - Jan Maarten Schraagen

    Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2024 54:51


    In this episode we dive into issues of human-machine teaming, with human factors engineer Jan Maarten Schraagen. Having edited the recently released book, Responsible Use of AI in Military Systems, Jan Maarten is an expert on how brittle technologies influence joint cognitive system performance. In this episode, in addition to exploring the book, we explore the outcomes of the 2023 REAIM Summit and what we can hope for from the 2024 Summit;  talk about multidisciplinarity in the responsible military AI debate; and how we should be thinking about capability envelope of military AI - that is, how it can or should be restricted in the conditions under which it can operate. Jan Maarten Schraagen is a cognitive systems engineer at TNO, and studies how brittle technologies influence joint cognitive system performance. He is a human factors specialist with broad experience in optimizing work processes and teamwork design. He is particularly interested in making work safe, productive and healthy, and improving resilience in sociotechnical work systems.Additional resources:Jan Maarten Schraagen (ed), Responsible Use of AI in Military Systems, CRC Press, 2024Ekelhof, M.A.C. (2018). Lifting the Fog of Targeting: “Autonomous Weapons” and Human Control through the Lens of Military Targeting. Naval War College Review, 71(3), 61-94.Ekelhof, M.A.C. (2019). Moving beyond semantics on autonomous weapons: Meaningful human control in operation. Global Policy, 10(3), 343-348.Endsley, M.R. (2017). From here to autonomy: Lessons learned from human-automation research. Human Factors, 59(1), 5-27.Taddeo, M., & Blanchard, A. (2022). A comparative analysis of the definitions of autonomous weapons systems. Science and Engineering Ethics, 28, 37-59.Herbert Simon, Bounded Rationality, Utility and Probability, NPA, 1990Peeters, M.M.M., van Diggelen, J., van den Bosch, K., Bronkhorst, A., Neerincx, M.A., Schraagen, J.M., Raaijmakers, S. (2021). Hybrid collective intelligence in a human–AI society. AI and Society, 36(1), 217-238.Schraagen, J.M.C., Barnhoorn, J.S., Van Schendel, J., & Van Vught, W. (2022). Supporting teamwork in hybrid multi-team systems. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 23(2), 199-220.Van der Kleij, R., Schraagen, J.M.C., Cadet, B., & Young, H.J. (2022). Developing decision support for cybersecurity threat and incident managers. Computers & Security, 113, 102535.Schraagen, J.M.C. (2023). Responsible use of AI in military systems: Prospects and challenges. Ergonomics, 66(11), 1719 – 1729.

    OpinioJuris Symposium on Military AI and the Law of Armed Conflict - Lena Trabucco

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 9, 2024 45:38


    Part of the ongoing debate about the lawfulness of autonomy in military systems in the manner in which the technology integrates with and interacts with its human masters.  The term Meaningful Human Control (or MHC) has garnered particular relevance in this debate. Today we speak with Dr Lena Trabucco about her upcoming OpinioJuris Symposium on Military AI and the Law of Armed Conflict, co-edited with Dr Magda Packholska, on this issue, as well as her work on legal challenges associated with emerging technology more broadly.Lena is a research fellow, a visiting scholar at the Stockton Center for International Law at the US Naval War College, and research fellow at the Technology, Law and Security Program at American University College of Law and the University of Copenhagen. Her research focuses on the intersection of international law and emerging military technology, particularly autonomous weapon systems. She has multiple projects examining human control throughout an autonomous weapon system life cycle. Previously, she was a post-doctoral researcher at the Centre for Military Studies at the University of Copenhagen. Lena received a PhD in law from the University of Copenhagen and a PhD in international relations from Northwestern University.Additional resources:Opinio Juris Symposium on Military AI and the Law of Armed ConflictKevin Jon Heller, 'The Concept of 'The Human' in the Critique of Autonomous Weapons', 14 Harvard National Security Journal (2023)Magdalena Pacholska, 'Military Artificial Intelligence and the Principle of Distinction: A State Responsibility Perspective', Israel Law Review (2022), 1–21Rebecca Crootof, 'A Meaningful Floor for 'Meaningful Human Control', Temple International & Comparative Law Journal, Vol. 30, 2016Kenneth Payne's SubstackKiller Robot Cocktail Party (Lena and Brad Boyd's substack)

    Article 57, those who plan or decide on attacks and autonomous weapons - Renato Wolf

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2024 51:18


    In this episode, Lauren Sanders is speaking with fellow LFW researcher, Renato Wolf about the issue of determining where legal obligations lie in the conduct of attacks, carried out by AWS. In particular they delve into his research about the Art 57 term ‘those who plan or decide attacks' to see how that maps onto AWS, how that features in the AWS debate and what needs to be thought about in operationalising this legal obligation.Renato Wolf is an international lawyer who served as a legal adviser to the Swiss Armed Forces for nearly ten years. He was deployed to Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and then spent two years working as a legal advisor to the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Unit at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. He holds a Bachelor of Law and a Master of Law with a specialization in international law from the University of Bern, Switzerland, as well as a Master of Arts in War in the Modern World from the King's College London. He is currently a research fellow at the University of Queensland and finalizing his PhD on the legal review of autonomous weapons.

    Future of War series: Stuart Casey-Maslen and Directed Energy Weapons

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 16, 2024 35:31


    In this episode, Dr Lauren Sanders speaks with Professor Stuart Casey-Maslen about Directed Energy Weapons. They traverse the existing legal controls on these weapons, and speak about the potential for future regulation of novel uses of energy weapons in armed conflict.  This conversation preceded a presentation by Dr Casey-Maslen, Dr Sanders and  Dr Altman for UNIDIR, which was a side event to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Meeting of States Parties, held in November 2023.  Stuart Casey-Maslen is an international lawyer and Professor at the University of Pretoria, specialising in the use of force and the protection of civilians, and he has published numerous books and articles on this topic. He is also an Associate Fellow within the Global Fellowship Initiative of the GCSP.  Additional Resources: United Nations Human Rights Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement, 01 June 2020.ICRC Expert Meeting on Legal Reviews of Weapons and the SlrUS Project.A/78/324: Thematic study on the global trade in weapons, equipment and devices used by law enforcement and other public authorities that are capable of inflicting torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, 24 Aug 23.

    Future of War series: Algorithmic Futures with Zena Assaad and Elizabeth Williams

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2023 38:02


    As part of our ‘futures' mini-series, in this episode we are looking specifically at Algorithmic Futures, with hosts of the podcast of the same name: Dr Zena Assaad and Dr Elizabeth Williams, both from ANU. Today we are going to specifically focus on the breadth of the design and uncertainty problem for capabilities augmented by algorithms.  Elizabeth T. Williams is an Associate Professor in the School of Engineering at the Australian National University (ANU).  She has a PhD in experimental nuclear structure from Yale University. Since joining the ANU in 2012, Liz has held an ARC DECRA Fellowship, mucked about with accelerators, code, and superheavy elements, and explored complexity in real-world technological systems. She also led the creation of the hands-on half of the Masters of Applied Cybernetics, convened the School of Cybernetics 2021 PhD cohort program, and will soon convene the newly created Nuclear Systems major and minor for the School of Engineering's Bachelor of Engineering programs.Zena Assaad is a senior research fellow within the School of Engineering at the Australian National University (ANU). Zena studied a Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering and completed a PhD exploring decision-making under uncertainty to support strategic air traffic flow management. Zena currently holds a fellowship position under the ethics uplift program with trusted autonomous systems, exploring human-machine teaming; and is also a fellow with the Australian Army Research Centre researching autonomy in swarms and human-machine teams.Additional Resources:Algorithmic Futures - podcast by Zena Assaad and Liz WilliamsKlara and the Sun - K Ishaguro, 2021The Ironies of Automation - L Bainbridge, Automatica, Vol. 19, No. 6. pp. 775 779, 1983 

    Future of war series: Biological warfare and transparency on the battlefield with Robert Lawless

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2023 45:13


    Continuing our future of war series, this episode dives into the legal implications of increasing transparency of the battlespace as a result of technological change; and looks at developments in biological warfare that challenge the long-standing prohibition on biological weapons at international law. We speak with Rob Lawless from the Leiber Institute, at the Westpoint Academy to hear more. Robert Lawless is an Associate Professor in the Department of Law at the United States Military Academy, West Point. He teaches various courses, including military law and the law of armed conflict. He is also the Research Director of the Lieber Institute for Law and Warfare and one of the editors of Articles of War.  Professor Lawless previously spent ten years as an active-duty military officer in the U.S. Army JAG Corps., serving in several positions advising commanders on legal issues. He also spent almost three years as an Army litigator, representing both the U.S. government and individual soldiers in courts-martial and other military justice forums. Additional resources:Lieber Studies SeriesArticles of War BlogProfessor Nasu's works on nanotechnology1925 Geneva ProtocolBiological Weapons ConventionSean Watts, Law-of-War Perfidy, 219 Mil L. Rev. 106 (2014)

    Future of War: Artur Gruszczak - The Routledge Handbook on the Future of War

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2023 44:01


    In this third episode in our futures mini-series, we continue our scoping of the utility of seeking to predict the future of war; before deep diving into emerging and disruptive technologies. Recorded in late September 2023, we are speaking with Artur Gruszczak about the Future of War, and his recently edited Handbook on the same topic, released by Routledge this September.Artur Gruszczak holds a PhD in Political Science from Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Currently he holds an appointment there as an Associate Professor of Political Science, Chair of National Security at the Faculty of International and Political Studies.  Since 2014 he has been Faculty Member of the European Academy Online run by the Centre international de formation européenne in Nice. His academic interests and research areas include: security studies, EU area of freedom, security and justice, intelligence cooperation in the European Union, and the evolution of modern warfare.Additional resources: Handbook of the Future of Warfare, Edited By Artur Gruszczak, Sebastian Kaempf, Routledge, 2023The Weaponisation of Everything, Mark Galeotti, Yale University Press, 2023New and Old Wars, Mary Kaldor, Stanford University Press, 2012Pearl Harbour: Warning and Decision, Roberta Wohlstetter, Stanford University Press, 1962Theorising Future Conflict, Mark Lacy, Routledge 2024.War Transformed, Mick Ryan 2022. The Future of War: A History, Lawrence Freedman 2018.Warrior Geeks, Christopher Coker, 2013.

    Future of War series: David Kilcullen and Ian Langford: the Future of Australia's Defence Strategy and the Indo-Pacific

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2023 52:46


    Recorded in early September 2023,  this episode continues our futures mini-series, where we speak with Dr Ian Langford and Professor David Killcullen about the future of war in the Indo-Pacific region. In this episode we will be getting a download on what the change in geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific means for Australia, and how that might impact choices relating to technology, acquisitions and their subsequent use and regulation; as well as discussing what the future of proxy warfare and modern counterinsurgency might look like.Dr Ian Langford, DSC and Bars, is a member of a member of UNSW's Future Operations Research Group and is a strategic adviser with UBH Group, a leading Sovereign Information Domain (SID) company. Dr Langford is a regular contributor to the Australian Army Research Centre, and in addition to being a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Marine Corps Command and Staff College and the School of Advanced Warfighting, he has recently retired from the Australian Army as a Brigadier where he filled multiple senior roles including – relevant to our discussion today – as the Army's Director General of Future Land Warfare and the Head of Land Capability.Dr David Kilcullen is a former soldier and diplomat, and a scholar of guerrilla warfare, terrorism, urbanisation and the future of conflict, who served 25 years for the Australian and United States governments. During the Iraq War, he served in Baghdad as a member of the Joint Strategic Assessment Team, then as Senior Counterinsurgency Advisor, Multi-National Force Iraq in 2007, before becoming Special Advisor for Counterinsurgency to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on counterinsurgency; and in addition to holding senior academic roles across a number of institutions, he has written six books on counterinsurgency.Additional resources:-  Australian Defence Strategic Review- USMC Stand-In Force Concept- UK Future Commando Force Concept

    Contemporary International Criminal Law Issues - Guilty pleas and the ICC: Charles Adeogun-Phillips Part 2

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2023 51:15


    In this episode, we conclude our interview with Dr Charles Adeogun-Phillips, discussing guilty pleas and their development in international criminal law.Dr Charles A. Adeogun-Phillips is an accomplished international lawyer and former lead international prosecutor. He founded the cross-border law firm of Charles Anthony LLP, following a distinguished legal career at the UN, wherein he successfully led teams of international prosecutors in 12 precedent-setting genocide trials before the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, making him arguably one of the most experienced and successful genocide prosecutors in history. In 2021, he was called to the Bar of England and Wales as a transferring Solicitor, by the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, and practises as a Barrister from the prestigious Guernica 37 (International Justice) Chambers in London and The Hague. In 2022, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) by his alma mater, Warwick University, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the development of international criminal law. He contributed to the book International Criminal Investigations, Law, and Practice—“The Challenges of International Investigations and Prosecutions: Perspectives of a Prosecutor” published by Eleven International, The Hague in 2018. He is the focal point for Nigeria at the ICC Bar Association.Additional Resources Nancy CombsKosovo Specialist Chambers Special Panels for Serious Crimes (East Timor).

    Contemporary International Criminal Law Issues - Guilty pleas and the ICC: Charles Adeogun-Phillips

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2023 28:07


    In this interview, we are speaking with Dr Charles Adeogun-Phillips about the history of guilty pleas in international criminal law, as an author of a chapter on the same topic, as part of the edited works, Contemporary International Criminal Law Issues - Contributions in Pursuit of Accountability for Africa and the World. The challenges associated with the running of international criminal trials are extensive, and establishing a process for plea bargaining, to satisfactorily address some of the legal challenges associated with atrocity crimes, is an even more delicate one.  Today we are talking with Dr Adeogun-Phillips about how this process has evolved over the course of the ad hoc tribunals, and what plea bargaining means in terms of accountability for international criminal offences. Dr Charles A. Adeogun-Phillips is an accomplished international lawyer and former lead international prosecutor. He founded the cross-border law firm of Charles Anthony LLP, following a distinguished legal career at the UN, wherein he successfully led teams of international prosecutors in 12 precedent-setting genocide trials before the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, making him arguably one of the most experienced and successful genocide prosecutors in history. In 2021, he was called to the Bar of England and Wales as a transferring Solicitor, by the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, and practises as a Barrister from the prestigious Guernica 37 (International Justice) Chambers in London and The Hague. In 2022, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) by his alma mater, Warwick University, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the development of international criminal law. He contributed to the book International Criminal Investigations, Law, and Practice—“The Challenges of International Investigations and Prosecutions: Perspectives of a Prosecutor” published by Eleven International, The Hague in 2018. He is the focal point for Nigeria at the ICC Bar Association.

    Contemporary ICL Issues - Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: What Legacy for the New ICC Prosecutor? - Natacha Bracq

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2023 32:55


    We continue this international criminal law mini-series by speaking with Natacha Bracq, who wrote a chapter on gender and sexual-based violence in Contemporary International Criminal Law Issues - Contributions in Pursuit of  Accountability for Africa and the World, which deals with a range of issues impacting contemporary ICL practice in Africa and around the world.  Her chapter, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: What Legacy for the New ICC Prosecutor?  focuses on the International Criminal Court specifically,  highlighting that the court still struggles to effectively address such crimes and continues to repeat the errors of the past.Natacha works as a Legal Advisor with Dignity, the Danish Institute against Torture, and is also the founder of the first blog entirely dedicated to ICL in the French language (www.blogdip.org). Previously, amongst other roles, she worked as a lawyer at the Paris Bar and as the  Senior Officer for Training and Capacity Building at the International Nuremberg Principles Academy. She has worked with Wayne Jordash QC before various international tribunals including the ICJ, ICTY, and ICC.  Additional Resources: Prosecuting Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes in the International Criminal Court,  Rosemary Grey, 2019 Prosecuting Conflict-Related Sexual Violence at the ICTY, edited by Baron Serge Brammertz and Michelle Jarvis, 2016 International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict, June 2014, from the United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth OfficeThe Hague Principles on Sexual ViolenceThe Murad Code 

    Future of War series: Sir Lawrence Freedman - The History of the Future of War (Ukraine Update)

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 20, 2023 41:08


    We start our futures mini-series by speaking with an eminent military historian on the future of warfare. In this episode we are delighted to be joined by Sir Lawrence Freedman. Recorded in September 2023 he joins us to talk about the future of warfare, having regard to his approach to predicting future war, as outlined in The Future of War: A History; and the update to this commentary, taking into account the lessons to be learned from the ongoing conflict in the Ukraine.: Modern Warfare: Lessons from Ukraine.Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman is Emeritus Professor of War Studies, King's College London. Elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1995 and awarded the CBE in 1996, he was appointed Official Historian of the Falklands Campaign in 1997. In 2003, he was awarded the KCMG. In June 2009, he was appointed to serve as a member of the official inquiry into Britain and the 2003 Iraq War. He has written widely on international history, strategic theory and nuclear weapons issues, as well as commenting on current security issues. Among his books are Strategy: A History (2013, OUP) and Command: The Politics of Military Operations from Korea to Ukraine (2023, Penguin).You can read more of Freedman's commentary on his substack, Comment is Freed.Additional resources:Lawrence Freedman: Modern Warfare, Lessons from Ukraine (2023, A Lowy Institute Paper/Penguin) David Patreus and Andrew Roberts: Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine (2023, Harper Collins)Mick Ryan: War Transformed (2022, Naval Institute Press).Mick Ryan's substack: Futura DoctrinaPhillip O'Brien's substack: Phillip's Newsletter

    Contemporary International Criminal Law Issues - Contributions in Pursuit of Accountability for Africa and the World: Takeh Sendze

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2023 30:07


    We start this international criminal law mini-series by speaking with Mr Takeh Sendze, who is the editor of a recently published book, Contemporary International Criminal Law Issues - Contributions in Pursuit of Accountability for Africa and the World, which deals with a range of issues impacting contemporary ICL practice in Africa and around the world.  Takeh B.K. Sendze is a Cameroonian lawyer who received an LL.B. Honours degree from the University of Buea, Cameroon, in 1999 and an LL.M. in International Law from the University of Hull, UK, in 2002. He is an advocate of the New York State (USA) and Cameroon Bar Associations. He is currently a Legal Officer with the Office of the Prosecutor at the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, with almost two decades worth of professional experience in the fields of International Law, International Humanitarian Law, International Criminal Law/prosecution and International Human Rights. He is an experienced public speaker, trainer, mentor, guest lecturer and community leader.Additional Resources Takeh's most recent publication, Contemporary International Criminal Law Issues: Contributions in Pursuit of Accountability for Africa and the World, edited alongside Adesola Adeboyejo,  Howard Morrison and Sophia UgwuThe International Law Series, edited by William A. SchabasContemporary Issues Facing the International Criminal Court,  Richard H. SteinbergInternational Criminal Investigations: Law and Practice, Adejoké Babington-Ashaye, Aimée Comrie, Akingbolahan Adeniran 

    BarbieHeimer Special Series - A Manhattan Historian's perspective on Oppenheimer: Chris Griffith (AtomicArchive)

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 21, 2023 40:53


    In this episode in the BarbieHeimer series, we focus on the history of the Manhattan Project and the accuracy of the Oppenheimer movie. We are speaking with nuclear historian Chris Griffith, about the history, and consequences of the atomic age. As a warning, if you haven't seen the film we will be talking about the movie's plot lines and breaking down some of its scenes!Chris is an atomic historian who has created the online archive AtomicArchive, which is aimed at creating content to help the general public understand the science, history, and consequences of the atomic age. He has recently written for the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists to break down the historical accuracy of the film.Additional Resources: Chris Griffith, 'A Manhattan Project historian comments on ‘Oppenheimer', Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist, 28 Jul 2023. Samuel Glasstone and Philip J. Dolan, The Effects of Nuclear Weapons (3rd ed, 1977)The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists National Security Archive - The George Washington UniversityAlec Wellerstein's webpage, and 'NUKEMAP' to simulate the effects of a nuclear explosion anywhere on the map. 

    BarbieHeimer - what the meme (and pop culture) teaches us about nuclear politics: Emily Faux

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 9, 2023 47:45


     Today we continue our ‘BarbieHeimer'  (or Barbenheimer) series, and are talking today about the meme itself. Is it appropriate to mash these two films together? Is this frivolity making light of the serious impacts of nuclear weapons and the need for a refocus on non-proliferation and disarmament efforts? We speak with a scholar of Visual Politics and Visual Research Methods – Emily Faux - whose doctoral studies focus on what pop culture can tell us about nuclear weapons.Emily is a PhD candidate at Newcastle University, UK. Her thesis investigates nuclear weapons and war through popular film, television, and video game. She is interested in the contemporary story and popular imagination of nuclear weapons and war, as it exists in the current geopolitical climate. Emily teaches at the University of Leeds and is a member of the FemNukes network, a contributor for HighlyNRiched and has completed both the EU's Young Women in Non-Proliferation and Disarmament mentorship scheme and the University of California's Public Policy and Nuclear Threats course.Edited by Rosie Cavdarski.Additional resources:Emily Faux: What Barbie can teach us about nuclear weapons, The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, 3 August 2023Emily Faux:  The Untold Stories Behind “Oppenheimer” , InkStick, 18 Jul 2023Nukespeak: the Media and the Bomb, edited by Crispin Aubrey John Mecklin,  An extended interview with Christopher Nolan, director of Oppenheimer,  17 July 2023, Bulletin of the Atomic ScientistsJenny Johnston, Filmmaker on a Mission, 16 August 2020, N Square.

    BarbieHeimer Special Series - Barbie as a Souvenir of International Law: Emily Crawford and Jacqueline Mowbray

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 9, 2023 40:36


    In this 'BarbieHeimer' special episode, we return to the plastic doll, to talk about materialism, symbolism and the souvenirs in international law.  Emily Crawford and Jacqueline Mowbray walk us through their Souvenirs in International Law exhibit and project; and where Barbie features in their exhibit, as well as introducing us to Doudou Louis, the Louis Vuitton UNICEF Bear. To submit your own international law souvenir:  @atthevanishingpoint on Instagram.Professor Emily Crawford is at the University of Sydney Law School, where she teaches and researches in international law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law. She has published widely in the field of international humanitarian law, including three monographs (The Treatment of Combatants and Insurgents under the Law of Armed Conflict (OUP 2010), Identifying the Enemy: Civilian Participation in Hostilities (OUP 2015) and Non-Binding Norms in International Humanitarian Law: Efficacy, Legitimacy and Legality (OUP 2021)) and a textbook (International Humanitarian Law (with Alison Pert, 2nd edition, CUP 2020)). She is an associate of the Sydney Centre for International Law at the University of Sydney, and a co-editor of the Journal of International Humanitarian Studies.Associate Professor Jacqueline Mowbray also at the  University of Sydney Law School, is the external legal adviser to Australia's Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights. Her work uses critical theory to explore the operation of international law, and focuses on international law and language policy, and economic, social and cultural rights. Her monograph Linguistic Justice: International Law and Language Policy was published by OUP in 2012. Her second monograph, The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Commentary, Cases, and Materials (co-authored with Saul and Kinley) was winner of the 2015 American Society of International Law Certificate of Merit. Additional Resources:Jessie Hohmann and Daniel Joyce (eds), International Law's Objects, OUP, 2018. Pierre Bourdieu, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste, HUP, 1987. Marcel Mauss, The Gift, Routledge, 1950.For Barbie about town, see @intlawbarbie on Twitter/X! 

    BarbieHeimer Special Series - Barbie and The Nine Dash Line: Don Rothwell

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 9, 2023 47:59


    In this, the first of our Special Series on the BarbieHeimer phenomenon, we speak with international law of the sea expert, Professor Don Rothwell to find out what all the controversy was about in relation to the banning of the Barbie movie in Vietnam; the 9-Dash line; and the importance of maps in international law.  Professor Donald R Rothwell is one of Australia's leading experts in International Law with specific focus on the law of the sea; law of the polar regions; use of force and implementation of international law within Australia. He is the author of 28 books and over 200 book chapters and articles including, with Tim Stephens, The International Law of the Sea 3rd ed, (IN PRESS). His most recent work is Islands and International Law (Hart: 2022).Major career works include The Polar Regions and the Development of International Law (CUP, 1996), and International Law: Cases and Materials with Australian Perspectives 3rd (CUP: 2018).Rothwell is also Editor-in-Chief of the Brill Research Perspectives in Law of the Sea. From 2012-2018 he was Rapporteur of the International Law Association (ILA) Committee on ‘Baselines under the International Law of the Sea'.  Rothwell was previously Challis Professor of International Law and Director of the Sydney Centre for International and Global Law, University of Sydney (2004-2006), where he had taught since 1988. He has acted as a consultant or been a member of expert groups for UNEP, UNDP, IUCN, the Australian Government, and acted as advisor to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).In 2012 Rothwell was appointed an inaugural ANU Public Policy Fellow, and in 2015 elected as Fellow to the Australian Academy of Law. He is a regular media commentator on international law issues and has written over 100 opinion comments, including for all of the major daily newspapers in Australia and ABC Online ‘The Drum. Additional Resources:Don Rothwell, What is the ‘nine-dash line' and what does it have to do with the Barbie movie?, The Conversation, 4 July 2023 (images of the Barbie 8-Dash Line and the real 9-Dash Line are embedded in this story).Erik Franckx and Marco Benatar, ‘Dots and Lines in the South China Sea: Insights from the Law of Map Evidence' (2012) 2 Asian Journal of International Law 89-118.Z. Gao and B. Jia, ‘The Nine-Dash Line in the South China Sea: History, Status, and Implications' (2013) 107 (1) American Journal of International Law 98-123.Communications received with regard to the joint submission made by Malaysia and Viet Nam to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf – China (7 May 2009). 

    BarbieHeimer Special Series - Oppenheimer missed an opportunity: Gareth Evans

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 9, 2023 41:29


    In the second in our 'BarbieHeimer' series, we turn to the Oppenheimer movie and speak with world-renowned nuclear disarmament advocate and expert, Gareth Evans, about the opportunity the movie missed in re-energising efforts to the nuclear disarmament cause. We speak with him about the need for Australia to return to its former position of influence in arms control, to focus on a policy of 4D's: - Doctrine of no first use; - De-alerting early launch status of nuclear weapons; - reducing Deployments of nuclear weapons; and - Decreasing the number of nuclear weapons. Professor the Hon Gareth Evans AC KC FASSA FAIIA is Distinguished Honorary Professor at the Australian National University, where he was Chancellor from 2010-19. He was a Cabinet Minister in the Hawke and Keating Labor Governments from 1983-96, in the posts of Attorney General, Minister for Resources and Energy, Minister for Transport and Communications and - from 1988-96 - Foreign Minister. During his 21 years in Australian politics he was Leader of the Government in the Senate (1993-96) and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives (1996-98). From 2000 to 2009 he was President and CEO of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, the independent global conflict prevention and resolution organisation. He initiated the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, co-chaired the Australia-Japan International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, was founding convenor of the Asia Pacific Leadership Network on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (APLN), and co-authored Nuclear Weapons: The State of Play (ANU, 2013 and 2015).Additional resources:Gareth Evans, 'Nuclear weapons:“Oppenheimer” won't make a difference, but Australia can', The Interpreter, 27 Jul 2023.Other publications by Gareth Evans, available here (see in particular:  Lowering the Nuclear Temperature: Australia's role; Nuclear Weapons: The State of Play;  Revisiting the case for No First Use of nuclear weapons; & Nuclear Disarmament: the global challenge.Australia-Japan ICNND Report Eliminating Nuclear Threats , Report of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, Co-Chair Yoriko Kawaguchi, 2009.George P. Shultz, William J. Perry,  Henry A. Kissinger and Sam Nunn, 'A World Free of Nuclear Weapons', The Wall Street Journal, 4 Jan 2007.John Hersey, Hiroshima, Snowball Publishing, 1946.Ward Wilson Five Myths About Nuclear Weapons, Mariner Books, 2014.Ramesh Thakur, 'Four Myths about Nuclear Weapons,'  Pearls and Irritations - John Menadue's Public Policy Journal, 4 June 2023.

    AWS, the Alignment problem and regulation - Brendan Walker-Munro and Sam Hartridge

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 1, 2023 47:08


    In this interview, we are continuing our series on legal review of AWS, and speaking with two of the Law and Future of war research team, about an issue that impacts the design approaches to AWS: the alignment problem. In May 2023, there were reports of an AWS being tested, that turned upon its operator, and eventually cut its communications links so it could go after its originally planned mission... this prompted discussion about the alignment problem with AWS, impacting future TEVV strategies and regulatory approaches to this technology.The conference referred to in the episode can be found in the notes to the attached link,  with relevant excerpts extracted below: - Highlights from the RAeS Future Combat Air & Space Capabilities Summit (aerosociety.com):'Could an AI-enabled UCAV turn on its creators to accomplish its mission? (USAF)[UPDATE 2/6/23 - in communication with AEROSPACE - Col Hamilton admits he "mis-spoke" in his presentation at the Royal Aeronautical Society FCAS Summit and the 'rogue AI drone simulation' was a hypothetical "thought experiment" from outside the military, based on plausible scenarios and likely outcomes rather than an actual USAF real-world simulation saying: "We've never run that experiment, nor would we need to in order to realise that this is a plausible outcome". ] Col Tucker ‘Cinco' Hamilton, the Chief of AI Test and Operations, USAF, ... cautioned against relying too much on AI noting how easy it is to trick and deceive.... Said Hamilton: “We were training it in simulation to identify and target a SAM threat. And then the operator would say yes, kill that threat. The system started realising that while they did identify the threat at times the human operator would tell it not to kill that threat, but it got its points by killing that threat. So what did it do? It killed the operator. It killed the operator because that person was keeping it from accomplishing its objective.”Dr Brendan Walker-Munro is a Senior Research Fellow with the University of Queensland's Law and the Future of War research group. Brendan's research focus is on criminal and civil aspects of national security law, and the role played by intelligence agencies, law enforcement and the military in investigating and responding to critical incidents. He is also interested in the national security impacts of law on topics such as privacy, identity crime and digital security.Dr Sam Hartridge is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Queensland. His research is currently examining the interplay between technical questions of AI safety, AI risk management frameworks and standards, and foundational international and domestic legal doctrine.  Additional Resources:Autonomy in weapons systems: playing catch up with technology - Humanitarian Law & Policy Blog (icrc.org)Striking Blind | The Forge (defence.gov.au)Concrete Problems in AI Safety (arxiv.org)The Superintelligent Will: Motivation and Instrumental Rationality in Advanced Artificial Agents (researchgate.net)The Surprising Creativity of Digital Evolution: A Collection of Anecdotes from the Evolutionary Computation and Artificial Life Research Communities (arxiv.org)

    What does IHL Permit, Prohibit and Require? - Netta Goussac and Laura Bruun

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 20, 2023 45:21


    In this episode, as part of our series on AWS, legal review & IHL, we speak with Netta Goussac & Laura Bruun about their recently released SIPRI report on IHL & AWS, asking questions about what IHL permits, prohibits & requires in the design, development & use of AWS. Netta Goussac is a Special Counsel with Lexbridge (a legal practice & consultancy specialising in public international law). She has worked as an international lawyer for over a decade, including for the ICRC & the Australian Government's Office of International Law. Netta has expertise in legal frameworks related to the development, acquisition & transfer of weapons. Netta has provided legal & policy advice related to new technologies of warfare, including AWS, military applications of AI & cyber & space security, including as a researcher with the SIPRI.Laura Bruun is a Researcher in the Governance of AI Programme at SIPRI. Her focus is on how emerging military technologies, notably AWS & military AI, affect compliance with—& interpretation of—IHL. Laura has a background in Middle Eastern Studies (University of Copenhagen) and International Security & Law (University of Southern Denmark). Laura worked at, among others, Airwars in London, where she monitored & assessed civilian casualty reports from US & Russian airstrikes in Syria & Iraq. Additional Resources: Netta & Laura's report, Compliance with International Humanitarian Law in the Development and Use of Autonomous Weapon Systems: What does IHL Permit, Prohibit and Require?  published by SIPRIThe SIPRI publication series on AWS, including the development of autonomy, human control & accountability & Article 36 ReviewsThe Asser Institute's podcast, Lethal Autonomous Weapons: 10 things we want to knowUNIDIR publications, including Gender Bias and the 'Black Box'.ICRC's Position on Autonomous Weapons Systems here; see also their factsheet & videoDustin Lewis, A Key Set of IHL Questions concerning AI-supported Decision-making, in 51 CollegiumJaan Kross, Professor Martens' Departure, 1995

    Legal Review of AWS: Decision support systems and technical feasibility of review

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 7, 2023 39:09


    As part of our new, limited series on the Legal Review of AWS, we speak with two researchers from the Asser Institute on what the legal review obligation means for decision support systems, and what technical challenges exist in approaching the review obligation during the design and development phases in the creation of AWS.Taylor Kate Woodcock is a PhD researcher in public international law at the Asser Institute/University of Amsterdam. Her research, conducted in the context of the DILEMA project on Designing International Law and Ethics into Military Artificial Intelligence, examines the implications of the development and use of military applications of artificial intelligence (AI) for current international legal frameworks governing armed conflict. In particular, this research project explores the relationship between these legal frameworks and the concept of human agency, with a view to considering whether international law can be accounted for in the design of military AI and the military infrastructures in which these algorithms are embedded.Klaudia Klonowska is a PhD Candidate in International Law at the Asser Institute and the University of Amsterdam. She studies the interactions of humans and AI-enabled decision-support systems in the military decision-making process and the consequences thereof to the compliance of military practices with international humanitarian and human rights law. She is a member of the research project Designing International Law and Ethics into Military Artificial Intelligence (DILEMA). Additional resources:Asser's DILEMA project - publications on Article 36 and AWS including how to translate legal obligations to code, philosophy of use of AWS, state responsibility and AWS , criminal responsibility and AWS.Klaudia Klonowska,  Article 36: Review of AI Decision-Support Systems and Other Emerging Technologies of Warfare, Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law (YIHL), Volume 23 (2020), The Hague: T.M.C. Asser Press (2021)DILEMA Statement on the Global Governance of Artificial Intelligence in the Military

    AI Literacy for Defence Industry - Zygmunt Szpak

    Play Episode Listen Later May 10, 2023 42:35


    The discussion about AI regulation and law has been hampered by a lack of understanding about what AI actually is and what it can do. To date, there is no agreed definition of what constitutes AI; not any likely international consensus, with many states and NGOs adopting their own definitions.  This problem is then compounded when it comes to defining (and confining) what constitutes lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS).In this episode Dr Lauren Sanders interviews Dr Zygmunt Szpak, a computer scientist and executive director of Insight Via Artificial Intelligence (IVAI), to discuss some of these difficult questions. IVAI does research, development and deployment of AI, and also educates Defence industry on what AI is and how it can be used. The company is a member of the Defence AI Research Network and is currently working on Science, Technology and Research (STaR) Shots, which are challenging, inspirational and aspirational S&T missions that will align strategic research to force structure priorities. Prior to co-founding IVAI, Zygmunt spent over a decade working as a Senior Research Associate at the University of Adelaide, in the Australian Centre for Visual Technologies which then became the Australian Institute for Machine Learning. Zygmunt remains an adjunct senior lecturer at the Institute.  Additional Resources The Prediction Machines websiteThe European Commission's report, Shaping Europe's digital future, which includes 'A Definition of Artificial Intelligence: main capabilities and scientific disciplines' The movie, 'Hidden Figures' The  'AI and Deep Learning' collection, created by the Two Minute Papers Youtube Channel.

    Special episode: War crimes in Russia and Australia - the ICC arrest warrant against the Russian President and the AFP arrest of former ADF soldier - Rain Liivoja and Simon McKenzie

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2023 49:44


    In this special episode,  members of the Law and Future of War research project discuss two significant events occurring in the week of 17 March 2023 relating to criminal justice for alleged war crimes: 1. The ICC arrest warrant  issued in respect of the situation in Ukraine, and President Vladimir Putin's role in the alleged deportation of children from Ukraine since February 2022; and2. The Australian domestic arrest of a former Australian Defence Force trooper for the war crime of murder alleged to have occurred in Afghanistan in 2012.Dr Lauren Sanders is joined by Professor Rain Liivoja and Dr Simon McKenzie to explore what these warrants mean for international and domestic accountability for breaches of the law of armed conflict. Note: the views presented in this episode are those of the speakers and do not represent the views of any organisation or any government. 

    Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence - Paul Scharre

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 7, 2023 44:37


    In this episode, Dr Lauren Sanders speaks to Dr Paul Scharre, Vice President and Director of Studies at CNAS (the Centre for a New American Security), is a leading author on autonomous weapons and the impact of AI in the military. He has an extensive background in the drafting and implementation of policy relating to the current and future use of autonomy and artificial intelligence in the military; and has squeezed us in amid his book launch commitments for his most recent book, Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.  It addresses the issue of global power in the face of the battle to control artificial intelligence, and how the next industrial revolution will impact the future of war.  Additional Resources:Paul Scahrre, Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.  Norton, 2023Paul Scharre, Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War. Norton, 2019.ChinaTalk (podcast)Epoch AI - Quarterly trend reports and other research reports Anthropic - Frontier AI SafetyMatthew Sadler and Natasha Regan, Game Changer: AlphaZero's Ground Breaking Chess Strategy and the Promise of AI, 2019US State Department Statement on Responsiblee Use of Military AI, 16 Feb 23

    Eye in the Sky: Facts and Fiction in Military Decision-Making - Shiri Krebs

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 8, 2023 36:42


    In today's episode we are continuing our holiday season special on entertainment and IHL. Dr Lauren Sanders is speaking again with Professor Shiri Krebs, but this time about targeting and the movies.  In particular they are talking about her paper, Drone-Cinema, Data Practices, and the Narrative of IHL, and how representations of the use of drones in movies (such as the 2015 movie, 'Eye in the Sky'), gets IHL wrong, and how it is being used (or misused) to educate people about ethical decision making in armed conflict and how IHL applies in targeting decisions. Spoiler alert: contains plot details of 'Eye in the Sky'.Professor Krebs draws upon Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) and post-humanist feminism literature to critically evaluate how drone visuals shape and influence military practices; using  popular culture products, such as drone cinema, to critique military processes of knowledge production and the Western-militarist ethos of objectivity.Shiri is a Professor at Deakin University's Law Faculty, as well as the Co-lead of the Law and Policy Theme in the Australian Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre (CSCRC).  In 2022 she was elected as the Lieber Society on the Laws of Armed Conflict Chair (with the American Society of International Law), and she is an affiliated scholar at Stanford University's Centre for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). Professor Krebs has written and published broadly on algorithmic bias and drone data vulnerabilities, data privacy, and human-machine interaction in technology-assisted legal decision-making, at the intersection of law, science and technology. She teaches the outcomes of her work in many fora – including to governments and militaries.Special thanks to Rosie Cavdarski for editing.Additional resources:Shiri Krebs,'Drone-Cinema, Data Practices, and the Narrative of IHL' , Zeitschrift fur Auslandisches Offentliches Recht und Volkerrecht, Vol 82, 2022Shiri Krebs, ‘Law Wars: Experimental Data on the Impact of Legal Labels on Wartime Event Beliefs', (2020) 11 Harvard National Security Journal 106Shiri Krebs, ‘Predictive Technologies and Opaque Epistemology in Counter-Terrorism Decision-Making' in 9/11 and the Rise of Global Anti-Terrorism Law (K. L. Scheppele and A. Vedaschi, eds.Donna Harraway, 'Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective',  Feminist Studies, Vol. 14, No. 3 (Autumn, 1988).

    Dr Who and Genocide - Shannon Zimmerman

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 25, 2023 33:07


    In this  episode of our IHL and entertainment series, Dr Lauren Sanders speaks with Dr Shannon Zimmerman about Dr Who and his crimes of genocide.Talking about the examples of genocide by Dr Who throughout the series, this interview discussed Dr Zimmerman's paper,  'Doctor Who and the Responsibility to Protect: Public Perspectives of Atrocity Crimes', which canvasses the depiction of genocide in this science fiction series, and how the language and treatment of this international crime in the TV show changes along with real-life events over the course of the series' history; and the use of science fiction as thought experiments in the study of political science.Dr Zimmerman is a Lecturer in Strategic Studies at Deakin University at the Australian War College and Research Fellow at the Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect at UQ. Her research focuses on norm implementation in United Nations peacekeeping missions, specifically Protection of Civilians (PoC) and counter terrorism in peacekeeping operations. She also studies misogyny motivated terrorism, land the emergency of the involuntary celibates or 'incels'. Shannon received her PhD from the University of Queensland in 2019 and her Masters in Conflict Resolution from Georgetown University in 2012.Special thanks to Rosie Cavdarski for editing. Additional resources:Zimmerman, S, 'Doctor Who and the Responsibility to Protect: Public Perspectives of Atrocity Crimes', The Journal of Popular Culture, 6 Nov 2022.To Boldly Go: Leadership, Strategy and Conflict in the 21st Century, Casemate Publishers, Sep 2021.Shepherd, L and Clapman, W, 'Lessons from Westerose:  Gender and power in Game of Thrones', Politics, Vol 3, Iss 1, 2017. Drezner, D, Theories of International Politics and Zombies, Princeton University Press 2014.Australian Red Cross, Who is Game of Thrones' worst war criminal? 

    Star Wars and war crimes - Dale Stephens

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 11, 2023 35:09


    Dr Lauren Sanders speaks to one of our regular contributors to the podcast, Professor Dale Stephens and combines two of his specialised areas of expertise: space law and international humanitarian law.  How might this be possible you might ask? Well, as part of our special holiday series episodes, we are going to turn our minds to a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, and talk about war crimes committed in Star Wars. Take the Australian Red Cross Star Wars Quiz here!Additional Resources:Woomera Manual on the International Law of Military Space Activities and Operations

    Entertainment and the laws of war - Eve Massingham

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 28, 2022 23:05


    In this episode of our special entertainment and the law series, Law and Future of War Senior Research Fellow, Dr Eve Massingham discusses the obligation to ensure respect with IHL with her colleague Dr Lauren Sanders. Eve talks about her recent papers detailing how governments should wield their influence over the entertainment industry for good: and to enhance understanding and respect for IHL.Additional resources:Massingham, Eve (2021). Entertainment and the laws of war: The role of States in their interactions with the entertainment industry in order to ensure respect for international humanitarian law. Media and Arts Law Review, 24, 130-147.Massingham, Eve and McConnachie, Annabel eds. (2020). Ensuring Respect for International Humanitarian Law  (London, United Kingdom: Routledge), particularly chapters 3 and 5 by Sarah McCosker and Catherine Drummond respectively.Massinghman, Eve. (2022) Hollywood and the Laws of War, Articles of War Blog, The Lieber Institute, Westpoint. Theaters of War (May 5, 2022). Law and Future of War Podcast, Theatres of War - Seb Kemph (Dec 2022)Dale Stephens, ‘International Humanitarian Law in a galaxy far, far away' (Australian Red Cross).Shiri Krebs, ‘The Effects of Visual Evidence on the Application of International Humanitarian Law: A behavioural approach' (2021). 

    Theaters of War - Sebastian Kampf

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 14, 2022 39:11


    This is the first episode in our special series on entertainment and the law of war.In this episode, Dr Sebastian Kaempf, a Senior Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies, joins Dr Lauren Sanders to discuss. his documentary: and the documents he's uncovered from the US CIA and military Entertainment Liaison Offices as part of this project.   Dr Sebastian Kaempf is a Senior Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies at the School of Political Science and International Studies, at the University of Queensland. Sebastian received his PhD at Aberystwyth University in the UK, at the Department of International Politics. He also holds a BSc and MSc (Econ) in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Among his awards is the ISA Deborah Gerner Award for Teaching Innovation in 2020. His work at UQ includes producing and convening 'MediaWarX', one of UQ's Massive Open Online Courses. Sebastian also hosts a podcast with his colleague Associate Professor Al Stark, where they interview some of the best teachers about their practical advice on engaging university students in the classroom. You can listen to 'Higher Ed Heroes' here on Buzzsprout.  Additional Resources:‘Theaters of War: How the Pentagon and CIA took Hollywood' is a feature-length film documentary, produced and directed by Roger Stahl, Tom Secker, Matthew Alford and Sebastian Kaempf, funded and released through the Media Education Foundation in May 2022.  Tom Secker and Matthew Alford, ‘New Evidence for the Surprisingly Significant Propaganda Role of the Central Intelligence Agency and Department of Defense in the Screen Entertainment Industry' (2019) 45(3) Critical Sociology 347. Tom Secker and Matthew Alford, ‘Why are the Pentagon and the CIA in Hollywood?' (2017) 76(2) The American Journal of Economics and Sociology 381. James Der Derian, Virtuous War: Mapping the Military-industrial-media-entertainment Network (Routledge, 2nd ed, 2009)

    Universal Jurisdiction and Ukraine - Danielle Ireland-Piper and Melinda Rankin

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 3, 2022 57:04


    In this final episode of our series on accountability in Ukraine, Dr Lauren Sanders speaks with Associate Professor Danielle Ireland-Piper and Dr Melinda Rankin about universal jurisdiction and how it may play a part in the prosecution of war crimes occurring in the Ukraine conflict. Danielle is an Associate Professor at the ANU National Security College and an Honorary Adjunct Associate Professor at Bond University. She is the author of “Extraterritoriality in East Asia” and “Accountability in Extraterritoriality (both published with Edward Elgar). Danielle's research is primarily concerned with the intersection between domestic and international law on questions of jurisdiction. She also teaches and researches across a number of disciplines, including national security, space law, laws of armed conflict, human rights, and constitutional law.Melinda  works for a consultancy group and is also Honorary Research Fellow at The University of Queensland where she was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. She was and Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Global Constitutionalism, at the Social Science Centre Berlin, WZB. She is the author of De facto International Prosecutors in a Global Era: With My Own Eyes and The Political Life of Mary Kaldor: Ideas and Action in International Relations. Her current research programs include 'Conceptualising De facto International Prosecutors in a Global Era', and ‘The Nuremberg Effect,' investigating how non-state actors and state legal officials in foreign courts exercising UJ pursue accountability.  Additional resources:Danielle Ireland-Piper: Extraterritoriality in East Asia: Extraterritorial Criminal Jurisdiction in China, Japan, and South Korea , 2021; and Accountability in Extraterritoriality: A Comparative and International Law Perspective , 2017.Melinda Rankin: De facto International Prosecutors in a Global Era: With My Own Eyes 2022; and The Political Life of Mary Kaldor: Ideas and Action in International Relations. Máximo Langer, Mackenzie Eason, The Quiet Expansion of Universal Jurisdiction, EJIL, Volume 30, Issue 3, August 2019, Pages 779–817Alejandro Chehtman, The Philosophical Foundations of Extraterritorial Punishment, OUP Cedric Ryngaert's work on UJTime magazine, War Crimes and Challenges in UkraineNYT, Souleymane Guengueng: Send Habre to Belgium For Trial Open Democracy, Interview with Juan Garcés EuroJust and the ICC GuidelinesSyria's Disappeared: The Case Against Assad

    The Strategic Effect of OSINT - Tom Bullock

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 16, 2022 39:40


    This is the fifth episode in our series on accountability in Ukraine. Following on from our initial exploration into the Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) world, we delve deeper into the technical details of OSINT and its strategic effects with Tom Bullock, a Technical Intelligence Analyst. Tom is a Senior Technical Intelligence Analyst with Atreides, a software development company specializing in big data. Previously, he worked as a Senior OSINT Analyst with Janes, a global agency for open-source defence intelligence. Tom also published with Janes Defence Weekly and Janes Intelligence Review.  Tom has been involved in tracking military developments in Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict. Today, he reflects on the issues that he's observed so far. Additional Resources Learn more about the employment of OSINT through the Line of Actual Control and Bellingcat. 

    Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) and Ukraine - Benjamin Strick

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 2, 2022 55:15


    This is the fourth episode in our series about accountability in Ukraine. This episode focuses on the collection and collation of information (and potential evidence) using open-source intelligence.  As you will hear, OSINT has played a key role in the development of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and in the monitoring of conflict in Myanmar. Today we are speaking with a world expert in the skills required of open source intelligence collection – Benjamin Strick.Benjamin is a digital investigator with a background in law, military and technology, specialising in open source intelligence (OSINT), investigations, influence operations, data and maps. He is known for his contributions to multiple streams of human rights abuse investigations; and accountability projects using his online investigation skills, as well as for generating discussion and sharing those skills to democratise OSINT analysis. Ben is the Director of Investigations for both the Centre for Information Resilience and the  Myanmar Witness Project. He was previously an open source investigator with BBC Africa Eye, is a Bellingcat contributor and a co-founder of Ocelli Project.  In 2021 he was awarded Open Source Intelligence Champion of the Year for his investment, commitment and contribution to the field.  To learn more about OSINT and how it works, check out Ben's YouTube channel where he posts free digital research tutorials.  You can also learn more about Ben and his work by visiting his website or following him on Twitter. See also the OSINT Combine Academy.To see the Russia-Ukraine Monitor Map, see:https://maphub.net/Cen4infoRes/russian-ukraine-monitorTo check if your passwords have been hacked and are online, see: https://haveibeenpwned.com/OSINT Volunteer projects:National Child Protection Task ForceEuropol Stop Child Abuse - Trace an ObjectEpisode edited by Rosie Carvdarski. 

    Ukraine, The Crime of Aggression and the Need for a Special Tribunal - Carrie McDougall

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 19, 2022 41:23


    This episode is the third in a series of podcasts analysing accountability in the current Ukrainian conflict. In this third episode, we are speaking with Dr Carrie McDougall, from the University of Melbourne, who has been heavily involved in the proposal for the establishment of a Special International Tribunal to facilitate the investigation and prosecution of crimes of aggression committed on the territory of Ukraine. In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, unprecedented support has been lent to efforts to ensure that those responsible for serious international crimes being committed in Ukraine are held to account. But what prospect is there for the prime mover, President Putin, being prosecuted?Dr Carrie McDougall, formerly a legal specialist at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Legal Adviser at Australia's Mission to the United Nations, is currently researching and teaching international law at the University of Melbourne. She is an expert on the use of force and international criminal law, in particular the crime of aggression, having been heavily involved in the negotiation of the aggression amendments to the Rome Statute and having authored several works on the crime, including the leading monograph on the subject, The Crime of Aggression under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.Additional Resources:    General Crime of Aggression Publications: Carrie McDougall, The Crime of Aggression under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (2nd ed, CUP, 2021).Claus Kress & Stefan Barriga (eds), The Crime of Aggression: A Commentary (CUP, 2016). Carrie McDougall, ‘The Crime of Aggression' in Pedro Caeiro, Sabine Gless and Valsamis Mitsilegas (eds), The Elgar Encyclopedia of Crime and Criminal Justice.     Special International Tribunal video recordings and key blog posts: Chatham House: A Criminal Tribunal for Aggression in Ukraine .  Chatham House: Aggression Against Ukraine: Holding Russia Accountable. Edgehill Int Law: Do We Need a Special Tribunal for Aggression for Ukraine?   Carrie McDougall, ‘Why Creating A Special Tribunal for Aggression Against Ukraine is the Best Available Option: A Reply to Kevin Jon Heller and Other Critics', Opinio Juris. Kevin Jon Heller, ‘The Best Option: An Extraordinary Ukrainian Chamber for Aggression', Opinio Juris. Alexander Komarov and Oona Hathaway, ‘Ukraine's Constitutional Constraints: How to Achieve Accountability for the Crime of Aggression', Just Security.

    The UNGA and Accountability in Ukraine - Rebecca Barber

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 5, 2022 38:57


    This episode is the second instalment in a series of podcasts analysing accountability in the current Ukrainian conflict. In this episode we are talking to Dr Rebecca Barber, an expert in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) powers and humanitarian action, to discuss the power of the UNGA and its role in providing accountability for actors in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.Rebecca Barber is a Senior Human Rights Research Fellow with the Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect and is the recipient of the 2022 Article/Chapter (ECR) Award by the Australian Legal Research Awards.  Barber has extensive experience working with international humanitarian NGOs well as multi-sector humanitarian response programs in humanitarian crises around the world. She has also worked as a humanitarian advocacy advisor with Oxfam and Save the Children, and as a lecturer with the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership at Deakin University. Additional Resources:Rebecca Barber, ‘The Powers of the UN General Assembly to Prevent and Respond to Atrocity Crimes: A Guidance Document' (Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, 29 April 2021) Rebecca Barber, ‘Cooperating through the General Assembly to End Serious Breaches of Peremptory Norms' (2022) 71(1) International and Comparative Law Quarterly 1 : Rebecca Barber, ‘An Exploration of the General Assembly's Troubled Relationship with Unilateral Sanction' (2021) 70(2) International and Comparative Law Quarterly 343: Rebecca Barber, ‘Does International Law Permit the Provision of Humanitarian Assistance Without Host State Consent? Territorial Integrity, Necessity and the Determinative Function of the General Assembly' (2020) 23 Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law 85. Alex Bellamy, ‘The Responsibility to Protect at 15: A Promise Unfulfilled' (Global Centre for R2P, 21 September 2020). Find other commentaries on the Global Centre's website. Watch ‘A conversation with the UN Special Advisers on the Responsibility to Protect' (2020) here on the Global Centre's website. Read the Secretary General's Annual Reports on R2P on the Global Centre's website. Read the 2009 ‘Report of the Secretary-General: Implementing the Responsibility to Protect' on the UN and the Rule of Law website.

    Cultural Heritage and Accountability in Ukraine - Ana Vrodljak and Mayee Warren

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 25, 2022 47:54


    This episode starts a series of podcasts analysing accountability in the current Ukrainian conflict. In this first episode, we are joined by Ana Vrodljak, the UNESCO Chair on International Law and Cultural Heritage, and Professor of Law at UTS, and Mayee Warren – a senior practitioner in the management of international criminal trials - to talk about the challenges presented in collecting and collating evidence of breaches of international law in Ukraine. In particular, we are going to focus on how the law protects objects of special cultural significance, what accountability measures exist when those objects are damaged in armed conflict, and then talk about how technology can assist in bringing perpetrators of these crimes to account.Professor Vrodljak has authored numerous books on International Law and Cultural Objects and Cultural Heritage; as well as the Oxford Commentary on the 1970 UNESCO and 1995 UNIDROIT Conventions. Among her many other appointments, she is a General Editor of the Oxford Commentaries on International Cultural Heritage Law and book series entitled Cultural Heritage Law and Policy; President of the International Cultural Property Society and on the Management Committee, International Journal of Cultural Property.Mayee Warren has decades of experience as a senior executive in the Office of the Prosecutor of several international judicial mechanisms – from Rwanda, Sierra-Leone. The ICC, the War Crimes Court for Bosnia-Herzegovina, the ECCC – there is barely an international criminal justice mechanism Mayee hasn't been involved with.  She is notionally retired, but is still consulting on legal and judicial projects including Organisational Development Adviser to the Office of the Attorney-General in Somaliland, Organisational Transformation and Change Management Consultant to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions under the joint EU and UN Office on Drugs and Crimes'  Criminal Justice Sector Reform program in East Africa and is engaged at UTS with teaching and program management of Global Accountability Projects, as well as providing advise to Ana in her UNESCO role. Edited by Rosie Cavdarski.Additional Resources Ana Filipa Vrdoljak and Francesco Francioni (eds), The Oxford Handbook of International Cultural Heritage Law  (Oxford University Press, 2020).Ana Filipa Vrdoljak and Francesco Francioni  (eds), Cultural Heritage Law and Policy (Oxford University press, 2013)ICC OTP, Lessons Learned Report.Read about the ICC OTP's Policy of Cultural Heritage.Learn more about the Mali and Timbuktu prosecutions before the ICC. Alexandre Skander Galand, 'A Special Justice Mechanism for the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine – For Who, By Who, Against Who?' Opinio juris (9 May 2022)Generally: International Law Blog

    US DoD Civilian Harm and Mitigation Response Plan – what is it, and what does it propose to do? - Marc Garlasco

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2022 46:12


    On 25 Aug 2022, the US Department of Defense released its Civilian Harm and Mitigation Response Plan, which has been created, in part as a result of the public scrutiny on civilian casualty incidents following the Iraq campaign. In this episode, Dr Lauren Sanders speaks with Marc Garlasco, who has been intimately involved with this issue, having been engaged in stakeholder engagement with the US DoD during their development of this plan when it was announced on 27 Jan 2022. Marc has a long history of observing and reporting on civilian casualty incidents, using his understanding of the process garnered from his time as a  a US intelligence analyst.  He has served with HRW, as a senior civilian protection officer for United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA);  and as the U.N. senior military advisor for the Human Rights Council's (HRC) Independent Commission of Inquiry on Libya, where he investigated civilian casualties while leading a survey of NATO's activities in Libya. He has worked with CNA on civilian harm mitigation, and co-hosts his own podcast, Civilian Protection with CIVIC.He has been engaged in this Action Plan through his work with the NGO PAX since 2021 and will be talking to us today about the history of this Action Plan and his views on what it might do to address the causal issues identified across the numerous projects that have been analysing the contributing factors that result in civilian casualties.Edited by Rosie Cavdarski.Additional ResourcesMarco Garlasco, ‘Defense Department Finally Prioritizes Civilians in Conflict,' Lawfare Blog (29 August 2022)  Dan E. Stigall, Anna Williams, ‘An Improved Approach to Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response' Articles of War Blog (Lieber Institute, Westpoint) (25 August 2022) RAND, U.S. Department of Defense Civilian Casualty Policies and Procedures An Independent Assessment (2022) See CivIC's Report ‘In Search of Answers: U.S. Military Investigations and Civilian Harm' (2020)  and other publications on their website.Listen to 'The Civilian Protection Podcast' - PAXApplying the DoD Policy on Civilian Harm to Protection of Civilians in Large-Scale Combat Operations (LSCO) , NGO Recommendations for DoD Policy on Civilian Harm - InterAction

    Counting civilian casualties - the impact of perspectives on accountability: Christiane Wilke

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 24, 2022 37:07


    In this episode, Dr Lauren Sanders speaks with Professor Christiane Wilke about the problem with accountability following civilian casualty incidents, and the impact of cultural and racial frames in imagining what has occurred on the ground. Professor Christiane Wilke is an Associate Professor in the Department of Law and Legal  Studies at Carleton University, Canada.  She researches how Western militaries and human rights organizations produce knowledge about and legal analyses of armed conflicts, looking at the recent conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. In particular, she works with visual and cultural assessments of civilian casualties from airstrikes and how their assessments are shaped by imperial imaginaries about race and space. Drawing on Third World Approaches to International Law and critical law & technology scholarship, she ask how international law understands, regulates, and privileges technologically enhanced warfare.Additional resources:Christiane Wilke: Legal Tragedies: US Military Reporting of Civilian Casualties of Airstrikes, Forthcoming in: Alexandra Moore and James Dawes (editors), Technologies of Human Right Representation (SUNY Press, 2022)Christiane Wilke and Mohd Khalid Naseemi, ‘Counting Conflict: Quantifying Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan,' Forthcoming in: Humanity Journal (Summer 2022). Christiane Wilke, ‘The Optics of War: Seeing Civilians, Enacting Distinctions, and Visual Crises in International Law' in Sheryl Hamilton et al (eds), Sensing Law (Routledge, 2017).  Learn more about Azmat Khan's work at her website and read her Pulitzer Prize winning report on The Civilian Casualty Files in The New York Times. Learn more about Air Wars on their website. Learn more about Pax for Peace on their website. Learn more about CIVIC on their website.Learn more about the members of Wilke's civilian casualty collective: Thomas Gregory, Helen Kinsella, Craig Jones and Nisha Shah. 

    Drone visual, labels and cognitive bias in targeting operations and military fact finding - Shiri Krebs

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 10, 2022 41:16


    In this episode Dr Lauren Sanders speaks with Associate Professor Shiri Krebs about cognitive biases inherent in targeting operations and what that means for compliance with the laws of armed conflict. The increased reliance on intelligence feeds from various remote sensors, and the fusion of these sensor feeds to make targeting decisions provides opportunity to entrench cultural and cognitive biases in armed conflict. Equally, the labels and interpretations ascribed to these sensor feeds impact the after action reviews, or fact finding or investigative processes that follow an engagement that results in civilian casualties. There have been many studies undertaken that demonstrate that data coming from machines is changes when it is interpreted by humans, and interpreted from that human's cognitive and cultural frame, but what is the impact of this kind of bias in the context of targeting operations and compliance with LOAC? Shiri is an Associate Professor T Deakin University's Law Faculty, as well as the Co-lead of the Law and Policy Theme in the Australian Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre (CSCRC).  In 2022 she was elected Chair of the Lieber Society on the Laws of Armed Conflict Chair (with the American Society of International Law), and she is an affiliated scholar at Stanford University's Centre for International Security and cooperation (CISAC). Associate Professor Krebs has written and published broadly on algorithmic bias and drone data vulnerabilities, data privacy, and human-machine interaction in technology-assisted legal decision-making, at the intersection of law, science and technology. She teaches the outcomes of her work in many fora – including to governments and militaries; and her paper, “The Effects of Visual Evidence on the Application of International Humanitarian Law: A behavioural approach”, was awarded the 2021 David D. Caron Prize, awarded by the American Society of International Law.Special thanks to Rosie Cavdarski for editing.Additional resources:Shiri Krebs, ‘Drone-Cinema, Data Practices, and the Narrative of IHL' (2022) 82(2) Heidelberg Journal of International Law (forthcoming August 2022). Shiri Krebs, ‘Predictive Technologies and Opaque Epistemology in Counter-Terrorism Decision-Making' in 9/11 and the Rise of Global Anti-Terrorism Law (Kim Lane Scheppele and Arianna Vedaschi, eds., Cambridge University Press, 2021), 199-221.Shiri Krebs, ‘The Invisible Frames Affecting Wartime Investigations: Legal Epistemology, Metaphors, and Cognitive Biases' in International Law's Invisible Frames (Andrea Bianchi and Moshe Hirsch, eds., Oxford University Press, 2021), 124-140. ( recently shortlisted for the Australian Legal Research Awards (Article/Chapter (ECR) Category)).Gavin Sullivan, 'Law, technology and data-driven security: infra-legalities as method assemblage, Journal of Law and Society, 2022Fleur Johns - Data detection and the redistribution of the sensible in international law, 2017Donna Haraway, 'Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Question of Partial Perspective, Feminist Studies, Vol. 14, No. 3 (Autumn, 1988), pp. 575-599.Harvard Implicit Bias Test:

    International Criminal Law and Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems: autonomy and accountability - Marta Bo

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 27, 2022 43:08


    In this episode Dr Lauren Sanders will be speaking with Dr Marta Bo about her work analysing how individuals can be held to account for the potential misuse of LAWS; and how ICL can be used as a method to regulate the use of LAWS.Dr Marta Bo is a  researcher at the Asser Institute and the Graduate Institute for International and Development studies (Geneva).  She is currently researching on criminal responsibility for war crimes committed with autonomous weapon systems (LAWS and War Crimes Project); AI and criminal responsibility; automation biases and mens rea for crimes committed with autonomous or automated systems; disarmament and criminalisation. She has published on international and transnational criminal law, artificial intelligence and criminal responsibility, autonomous weapons. Marta is also associate senior researcher at SIPRI.Additional Resources:SIPRI Emerging Military and Security Technologies Research

    Businesses and IHL - Fauve Kurnadi and Jonathan Kolieb

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 13, 2022 37:08


    In this episode, Dr Eve Massingham talks to Fauve Kurnadi of the Australian Red Cross and Dr Jonathon Kolieb of RMIT about how businesses are affected by, and should consider the application of IHL in situations of armed conflict.Fauve is a Legal Adviser in the International Humanitarian Law Program of Australian Red Cross where she is responsible for the organisation's engagement with corporate actors and academic circles.  Fauve was recently named one of Pro Bono Australia's Impact Award winners for her work in ensuring Australian businesses understand their responsibilities under the laws of war and play their part in creating better humanitarian outcomes for communities experiencing war.Dr Jonathan Kolieb is Senior Lecturer in Law at RMIT University, where he is the Peace and Conflict Theme Lead at RMIT's Business and Human Rights Centre.  Jonathan's research and teaching interests focus on global governance issues, including projects on the legal protections of children in armed conflict and the human rights obligations of transnational corporations, in particular in conflict-affected areas. Jonathan is the academic advisory member on the Victorian ARC IHL Committee. Additional resources:Jonathan Kolieb (2020) Don't forget the Geneva Conventions: achieving responsible business conduct in conflict-affected areas through adherence to international humanitarian law, Australian Journal of Human Rights, 26:1, 142-164.Red Cross, War, law and business: a module on international humanitarian law for future business leaders, 2022.Red Cross, Seven indicators of corporate best practice in international humanitarian law, 2021Red Cross, Doing Responsible Business in Armed Conflict: Risks, Rights and Responsibilities 

    Regulating AI and the limits of war - Simon Chesterman

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 29, 2022 29:10


    In this episode, Damian Copeland interviews Professor Simon Chestermann about his new book, We the Robots: Regulating Artificial Intelligence and the Limits of War. They discuss what challenges exist in regulating autonomous weapons systems, as well as how states are currently approaching this problem.Professor Simon Chesterman is Dean and Provost's Chair Professor of the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law and Senior Director of AI Governance at AI Singapore. He is also Editor of the Asian Journal of International Law and Co-President of the Law Schools Global League.Professor Chesterman is the author or editor of twenty-one books, including We, the Robots? Regulating Artificial Intelligence and the Limits of the Law (CUP, 2021); Law and Practice of the United Nations (with Ian Johnstone and David M. Malone, OUP, 2016); One Nation Under Surveillance (OUP, 2011); You, the People (OUP, 2004); and Just War or Just Peace? (OUP, 2001). He is a recognized authority on international law, whose work has opened up new areas of research on conceptions of public authority – including the rules and institutions of global governance, state-building and post-conflict reconstruction, the changing role of intelligence agencies, and the emerging role of artificial intelligence and big data. Additional Resources:Simon Chestermann: We the Robots? 2022Hitoshi Nasu: Autonomous weapons and the lawKobi Liens: International Law Applicable to the Use of Nanotechnologies, 2022 

    War Algorithms - Dustin Lewis

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 15, 2022 44:13


    In this episode, Dr Lauren Sanders speaks with Dustin Lewis, of Harvard Law School's Project on International Law and Armed Conflict about war algorithms and his recent project on pathways for using AI, and how to ensure greater respect for international law when states use these algorithmic capabilities. Dustin is the Research Director  at the Harvard Law School Program on International Law and Armed Conflict (PILAC). With a focus on public international law sources and methods, Dustin leads research into several wide-ranging contemporary challenges related to securing peace, protecting civilians, regulating hostilities, safeguarding the environment, and ending armed conflicts.Additional Resources:PILAC - Three Pathways to Secure Greater Respect for International Law Concerning War Algorithms SIPRI - Emerging Military and Security Technologies Project ASSER Institute - Designing International Law and Ethics into Military Artificial Intelligence (DILEMA)  Geneva Institute - Lethal Autonomous Weapons and War Crimes ProjectAutoNorms - Weaponised AI, Norms and OrderICRC Background Papers on LAWS: ICRC Position on Autonomous Weapons Suchman - Human-Machine Reconfigurations (CUP, 2012)

    ai project ethics algorithms harvard law school norms research director international law armed conflict lauren sanders dustin lewis harvard law school program armed conflict pilac
    What is quantum technology and why will it change the future? - Warwick Bowen

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 1, 2022 40:55


    In this episode, Professor Warwick Bowen explains to us what quantum technology is, and why it will be such a significant step change in the way that technology will operate in the future. Professor Bowen is a Professor of Physics at UQ'S faculty of Science. He is recognised both nationally and internationally for research at the interface of nanotechnology and quantum science; including nanophotonics, nanomechanics, quantum optomechanics and photonic/quantum sensing. He was an Australian Future Fellow. and leads the Quantum Optics Laboratory at UQ, is Director of the UQ Precision Sensing Initiative, and is a Node Manager of the Australian Centre for Engineered Quantum Systems.Further references:BrisScience video - Prof Warwick Bowen: Quantum Sensing: From Gravitational waves to ultra ultra soundEU Quantum FlagshipMcKinsey & Company - Quantum Computing Reports

    AI and its role in facilitating targeting operations - Hitoshi Nasu

    Play Episode Listen Later May 18, 2022 24:02


    In this episode, Dr Lauren Sanders speaks to Professor Hitoshi Nasu, from the Lieber Institute at West Point about artificial intelligence and its potential use in targeting operations. Although a well traversed topic, it is one that is not often viewed from the perspective of the benefits of how AI technology can aid in decision-making during military actions.  Professor Nasu also talks about the CCW GGE on LAWS and what direction he thinks regulation of autonomous weapons can realistically take. For detailed analysis of the lawfulness of autonomous drones in recent conflicts, see:Hitoshi Nasu - Hunter 2-S Swarming Attack Drones: Legal & Ethical Dimensions, Articles of War BlogHitoshi Nasu - The Kargu-2 Autonomous Attack Drone: Legal & Ethical Dimensions, Articles of War BlogInternational Law Studies Journal 

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