
Law and the Future of War
Law and the Future of War explores how emerging military technologies interact with international law, through conversations with experts in technology, law and military affairs. It is produced and published by the Asia-Pacific Institute for Law and Security, and was published by the University of Queensland School of Law until July 2024. Episodes are edited and produced by Dr Lauren Sanders and Dr Simon McKenzie. The show features research and commentary on legal questions raised by new weapons and warfare. Views expressed are those of the individual speakers and not necessarily of any government or defence organisation.
Episodes

The Geneva Conventions and the Third World - Srinivas Burra
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Simon McKenzie talks with Associate Professor Srinivas Burra about the Third World and the Geneva Conventions. They discuss the value of taking a Third World perspective of international law, and how being attentive to the view from these State helps explain the form and operation of international humanitarian law. Srinivas Burra is an Associate Professor of Law

The Geneva Conventions at sea - André Smit (ICRC)
Send us Fan MailAs 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 Geneva Conventions and Non-State Armed Groups - Katharine Fortin
Send us Fan MailIn 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 t

The Geneva Conventions in History - Helen Kinsella and Giovanni Mantilla
Send us Fan MailIn 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 tex

75 Years of the Geneva Conventions - Lauren Sanders and Simon McKenzie
Send us Fan MailIn 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
Send us Fan MailThis 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 webi

Regulation of novel technology: Trusted Autonomous Systems: Simon Ng and Clare East
Send us Fan MailIn 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 challe

The Woomera Manual on the International Law of Military Space Operations - Dale Stephens
Send us Fan MailIn 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 h

Bounded Autonomy, Meaningful Human Control and Military AI - Jan Maarten Schraagen
Send us Fan MailIn 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

OpinioJuris Symposium on Military AI and the Law of Armed Conflict - Lena Trabucco
Send us Fan MailPart 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 Conf

Article 57, those who plan or decide on attacks and autonomous weapons - Renato Wolf
Send us Fan MailIn 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 though

Future of War series: Stuart Casey-Maslen and Directed Energy Weapons
Send us Fan MailIn 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

Future of War series: Algorithmic Futures with Zena Assaad and Elizabeth Williams
Send us Fan MailAs 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 Pr

Future of war series: Biological warfare and transparency on the battlefield with Robert Lawless
Send us Fan MailContinuing 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

Future of War: Artur Gruszczak - The Routledge Handbook on the Future of War
Send us Fan MailIn 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 Gr

Future of War series: David Kilcullen and Ian Langford: the Future of Australia's Defence Strategy and the Indo-Pacific
Send us Fan MailRecorded 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, acq

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

Contemporary International Criminal Law Issues - Guilty pleas and the ICC: Charles Adeogun-Phillips
Send us Fan MailIn 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

Contemporary ICL Issues - Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: What Legacy for the New ICC Prosecutor? - Natacha Bracq
Send us Fan MailWe 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, S

Future of War series: Sir Lawrence Freedman - The History of the Future of War (Ukraine Update)
Send us Fan MailWe 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 commen

Contemporary International Criminal Law Issues - Contributions in Pursuit of Accountability for Africa and the World: Takeh Sendze
Send us Fan MailWe 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 Came

BarbieHeimer Special Series - A Manhattan Historian's perspective on Oppenheimer: Chris Griffith (AtomicArchive)
Send us Fan MailIn 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 a

BarbieHeimer - what the meme (and pop culture) teaches us about nuclear politics: Emily Faux
Send us Fan Mail 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 – Emi

BarbieHeimer Special Series - Barbie as a Souvenir of International Law: Emily Crawford and Jacqueline Mowbray
Send us Fan MailIn 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 B

BarbieHeimer Special Series - Barbie and The Nine Dash Line: Don Rothwell
Send us Fan MailIn 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 expert

BarbieHeimer Special Series - Oppenheimer missed an opportunity: Gareth Evans
Send us Fan MailIn 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 f

AWS, the Alignment problem and regulation - Brendan Walker-Munro and Sam Hartridge
Send us Fan MailIn 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 originall

What does IHL Permit, Prohibit and Require? - Netta Goussac and Laura Bruun
Send us Fan MailIn 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 specialis

Legal Review of AWS: Decision support systems and technical feasibility of review- Taylor Woodcock and Klaudia Klonowska
Send us Fan MailAs 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 intern

AI Literacy for Defence Industry - Zygmunt Szpak
Send us Fan MailThe 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 constitut

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
Send us Fan MailIn 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

Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence - Paul Scharre
Send us Fan MailIn 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 intelligenc

Eye in the Sky: Facts and Fiction in Military Decision-Making - Shiri Krebs
Send us Fan MailIn 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,

Dr Who and Genocide - Shannon Zimmerman
Send us Fan MailIn 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

Star Wars and war crimes - Dale Stephens
Send us Fan MailDr 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

Entertainment and the laws of war - Eve Massingham
Send us Fan MailIn 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 r

Theaters of War - Sebastian Kaempf
Send us Fan MailThis 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 Lect

Universal Jurisdiction and Ukraine - Danielle Ireland-Piper and Melinda Rankin
Send us Fan MailIn 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 Ass

The Strategic Effect of OSINT - Tom Bullock
Send us Fan MailThis 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

Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) and Ukraine - Benjamin Strick
Send us Fan MailThis 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 exp

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

The UNGA and Accountability in Ukraine - Rebecca Barber
Send us Fan MailThis episode is the second instalment in a series of podcasts analysing accountability in the current Ukrainian conflict. In this episode we are talking to 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. This ep

Cultural Heritage and Accountability in Ukraine - Ana Vrodljak and Mayee Warren
Send us Fan MailThis episode starts a series of podcasts analysing accountability in the current Ukrainian conflict. In this first episode, we are joined by Ana Filipa 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

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

Counting civilian casualties - the impact of perspectives on accountability: Christiane Wilke
Send us Fan MailIn 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 research

Drone visual, labels and cognitive bias in targeting operations and military fact finding - Shiri Krebs
Send us Fan MailIn 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 a

International Criminal Law and Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems: autonomy and accountability - Marta Bo
Send us Fan MailIn 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 resea

Businesses and IHL - Fauve Kurnadi and Jonathan Kolieb
Send us Fan MailIn 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

Regulating AI and the limits of war - Simon Chesterman
Send us Fan MailIn 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

War Algorithms - Dustin Lewis
Send us Fan MailIn 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 In

What is quantum technology and why will it change the future? - Warwick Bowen
Send us Fan MailIn 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; inc

AI and its role in facilitating targeting operations - Hitoshi Nasu
Send us Fan MailIn 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

War Lawyers - Craig Jones
Send us Fan MailDr Craig Jones speaks to Dr Lauren Sanders about his book: War Lawyers, to discuss how some militaries provide legal advice during targeting operations. They talk about the history of operations law, & how this advice is dispensed as well as talking about some challenges & issues with this current model of lawyering. Dr Craig Jones is the author of The War Lawyers & a l

Keeping the Peace in Cyberspace - Samuel White
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Simon McKenzie talks with Samuel White about how cyber operations and information warfare are changing national security and the role of the military. They explore how the domestic legal architecture might prevent or enable tasking the military with responding to cyber threats, and what it might mean for the contemporary relevance of the prerogative powers.Samu

War gaming with new technologies - Scott Roach
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Eve Massingham talks with Major Scott Roach of the Canadian Armed Forces about wargaming. They discuss the concept of wargaming and the Canadian Armed Forces’ mission for the Joint Wargaming Experimentation and Simulation section of their Warfare Centre. Combat simulations have grown in complexity over the past twenty years and how software now allows dozens of

Educating the military through wargaming and computer games - Jo Brick
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Lauren Sanders speaks with Group Captain Jo Brick about the role of wargaming and technology in professional military education, and how computer games can be used to train military professionals in ethics and law. Spoiler alert: they talk about Chidi from ‘The Good Place’ and the trolly problem, to highlight how the practical application of ethics is critical t

Special Episode: UQ POLSIS Panel Flashpoint: War in Ukraine - Seb Kaempf, Sarah Teitt, Andrew Phillips, Christian Reus-Smit and Lauren Sanders
Send us Fan MailThis panel, hosted by the UQ School of Political Science and International Studies addresses critical legal, political and international relations issues associated with the Ukraine war. Russia’s declaration of war on Ukraine marks a watershed and raises significant questions.Recorded on Tuesday 8 March, this panel canvasses issues relating to the lawfulness of the invasion, IHL

Special episode: Macquarie CEL Webinar - Protection of the natural environment in times of armed conflict: Ukraine - Eve Massingham
Send us Fan MailIn this special reproduction of a Macquarie University Centre for Environmental Law (CEL) webinar, Dr Eve Massingham discusses the protection of the natural environment in times of armed conflict in light of the recent Russian invasion into Ukraine.A video (including q\Q and A) of the session is available on the Macquarie CEL YouTube channel. Additional resources: Guidelines on th

Drones and the fourth wave: how drones have impacted the global order - Paul Lushenko
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Lauren Sanders speaks to Paul Lushenko, to discuss the broader implications of drone strikes in terms of politics and strategy, moral legitimacy of states’ use of drone warfare, and his new book, Drones and the Global Order, published in December 2021. Paul is a U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and General Andrew Jackson Goodpaster Scholar at Cornell University, wh

Facial recognition technology and the law in Australia - Professor Ed Santow
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Professor Ed Santow, speaks to Dr Lauren Sanders about the regulation of facial recognition technology in Australian and the UTS Facial Recognition Model Law Project, that will propose a way to rectify the current gaps in regulation of this technology in Australia that makes it prone to misuse. Edward Santow is Industry Professor - Responsible Technology at the Un

What will 2022 bring? Drones, geopolitics and the year ahead - John Blaxland
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Lauren Sanders interviews Professor John Blaxland – one of Australia’s most renowned military strategy writers and historians – to talk about the current geopolitical landscape as it applies to Australia, reflecting on the trends from our recent past; and talk briefly about how drones and associated technologies may impact the future global order. They canvas a

Legal review of autonomous weapons - Damian Copeland
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Lauren Sanders talks with Damian Copeland about one of the most important legal issues raised by autonomous weapons: how states might carry out weapons reviews of these technologies. The application of this obligation to autonomous weapons will have several challenges. Where a device has the capacity for self-learning, will one single review suffice? Will States

Facial recognition and occupation law - Rohan Talbot
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Simon McKenzie speaks with Rohan Talbot about the legal regulation of facial recognition technology during occupations. In 2019, it was revealed that Israel had added facial recognition technologies to the ways that it administers and controls the occupied Palestinian territories. They discuss the international legal implications of these technologies in occupie

Australia in space - Tristan Moss
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Simon McKenzie talks with Dr Tristan Moss about history of Australia in Space. They discuss the history of Australia in space, starting with its beginnings in a rocket range in Woomera in the 1960s to the recent founding of the Australian Space Agency. They discuss the patchy approach that Australia has taken to space exploitation, and put it into a broader pers

Mitigating harm to civilian populations and critical infrastructure in urban warfare - Abby Zeith and Michael Talhami
Send us Fan MailIn today’s episode, Dr Lauren Sanders talks with Abby Zeith and Michael Talhami of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) about urban warfare. Focussing on the impacts of conflict upon urban populations, they look at some of the issues that have arisen in terms of IHL compliance in and around urban centres as a result of technology. They also speak about the current in

Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War - Samuel Moyn
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Simon McKenzie talks with Professor Samuel Moyn about his new book, Humane, which considers some of the consequences of focussing on the laws of fighting wars at the expense of considering when they should be fought. They discuss the 19th-century peace movement, and what some of the legal debates from this time reveal about contemporary conflict and the rise of

What art can tell us about new digital technologies - Anna Briers
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Simon McKenzie talks with Anna Briers about what visual art can tell us about new digital technologies. The current show at UQ Art Museum – called ‘Don't Be Evil’ – seeks to show us some of the invisible power structures of networked technology, including the implications of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data capitalism.Anna Briers is the C

What space law can tell us about international law - Cris van Eijk
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Simon McKenzie chats with Cris van Eijk about space law – including some of its fundamental documents and places of political contestation - and what the structure and focus of space law tells us about international law more generally. After a few decades on the outer, space law is back in vogue: the rise of commercial space ventures combined with an uptick in

Operational, Political and Legal Implications of AUKUS - David Nicholls, Matt McDonald and Monique Cormier
Send us Fan MailIn this live recording of an event, Rain Liivoja talks with David Nicholls, Matt McDonald and Monique Cormier about the new AUKUS arrangement, under which Australia would acquire 8 nuclear-powered submarines with US and UK technology. They discuss the extent to which it represents a major shift in Australia's defence policy, and what we can make of some of the claims made abo

Precautions in defending digital infrastructure - Eve Massingham
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Simon McKenzie talks with Dr Eve Massingham about the equirement to take precautions against the effects of attack. This obligation requires the defender to minimise the risk that civilians and civilian objects will be harmed by enemy military operations – such as by locating military bases away from civilian areas, or by clearly marking non-military objects. Th

Precautions in attack and coalition operations in Mosul - Lauren Sanders
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Simon McKenzie talks with Dr Lauren Sanders about the practical application of one of the most interesting legal obligations of international humanitarian law: the obligation to take precautions in attack. This obligation requires attackers to take “all feasible precautions” to minimise incidental loss and harm to civilian life – but what it means in practice ca

Drone strikes and the safety of civilians - Joshua Andresen
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Lauren Sanders talks with Dr Joshua Andresen about drones and aerial strikes, exploring whether they make armed conflict safer for civilians. Some claim that by allowing for the more precise use of force, drone strikes cause less harm to nearby civilian populations. Conversely, some point to the impact that making force more accessible in urban areas actually in

Legal standards for AI: law and the reasonable robot - Ryan Abbott
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Lauren Sanders talks with Professor Ryan Abbott about the legal standards and challenges of integrating artificial intelligence into current legal regimes. They discuss his recent book, The Reasonable Robot, which traverses different areas of law and how they treat AI – whether incentivising or disincentivising technological development in AI – and what his the

Space force - Jessie Dumont
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Eve Massingham talks with Captain Jessie Dumont about the role of automation in space operations and the prospects of autonomous devices in space. They also touch on wargaming in space and some of the legal issues associated with using space for military purposes. Captain Dumont is a Lecturer in the Department of Physics & Space Science at the Royal Military

Experimenting on humans and international law - Thibault Moulin
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Simon McKenzie talks with Dr Thibault Moulin about the international legal regulation of experiments on humans. These experiments test existing frameworks of international law, and they discuss the limits that international humanitarian law and international human rights law places on human enhancement and the experiments that bring them into being.Dr Thibault M

The new and old of emerging military technology - Maaike Verbruggen
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Simon McKenzie talks with Maaike Verbruggen about how history can help us grapple with new military technologies. They talk about developments in AI, human-machine teaming and swarming capabilities and try to work through what can be taken from the histories of arms control and technology to help us understand our current situation.Maaike Verbruggen is a histori

Legal regulation of military activities in space - Dale Stephens
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Eve Massingham talks with Professor Dale Stephens CSM about law and war in outer space. They discuss the legal regime for outer space, what it says about military activities and how developments in technology are impacting these. They specifically discuss autonomy in space – both in relation to weapons and other activities such as the extraction of space debris,

Forecasting military technology and strategic challenges - Michael O'Hanlon
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Simon McKenzie talks with Michael O'Hanlon about forecasting what the future of military technology holds, and the conflicts should we be planning for or trying to avoid. The speed of technological development and digital transformation makes this job harder than ever. They discuss how he thinks out what the future holds – both technologically and strategic

Submarine cables and the law of armed conflict - Rob McLaughlin, Tamsin Paige and Douglas Guilfoyle
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Simon McKenzie is joined by Professor Rob McLaughlin, Dr Tamsin Paige and Associate Professor Douglas Guilfoyle to talk about the application of the law of armed conflict to submarine cables. These cables carry information crucial for national security. They are an essential part of the link between overseas embassies and their capital, not to mention military b

Cyber autonomy - Ryan Ko
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr Simon McKenzie talks with Professor Ryan Ko about the prospects and risks of cyber autonomy. Programs and systems are being developed that automate cyber defence, allowing them to self-discover, prove and correct software vulnerabilities at real-time. Some are even capable of doing more than defending, but can also attack other systems in the computer network, a
Recommended

Just The Gist

AFL Daily

Triple M Rocks Footy NRL

Rewired

Life On Purpose-With Equine Wisdom-Providing the Tools to set Boundaries, Trust Intuition and Embrace Purpose

Buying Gold Coast

The Bloom Room: An Early Childhood Podcast

Citipointe Church West

My Singalong

The 4WD Podcast

The MyBaby Craniosacral Podcast

The Consult by the Australian Specialist Hub