I learned so much from this essay. It gets into a brief history of how the US military has sought to dehumanize the process of identifying targets—first through bureaucracy and now through technology—with the expectation there will be more mistakes, but they will face less blame.
AI got the blame for the Iran school bombing. The truth is far more worrying
www.theguardian.comMar 26, 2026 at 2:21 PM
War in the age of intelligent machines
271 pages : 24 cm; In the aftermath of the methodical destruction of Iraq during the Persian Gulf War, the power and efficiency of new computerized weapons and suveillance technology has become chillingly apparent. This new weaponry has a significance that goes far beyond military applications; it represents a profound historical shift in the relation of human beings both to machines and to information. Details the mutating history of information analysis and machinic organization from the mobile siege artillery of the Renaissance, the clockwork armies of the Thirty Years War, the Napoleonic campaigns, and the Nazi blitzkrieg up to present-day cybernetic battle-management systems and satellite reconnaissance network, and provides a philosophical and historical reflection on the changing forms through which human bodies and materials are combined, organized, deployed and made effective. [back cover]; Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-266) and index; Introduction -- Collision course -- Bloodless transfusion -- Policing the spectrum
The shifting battlefield: technology, tactics, and the risk of blurring lines in warfare - Humanitarian Law & Policy Blog
The accelerating integration of emerging technologies into armed conflict is transforming not only the tools of war, but its tactics, geography, participants and impact. Technological developments – from commercial drones to artificial intelligence, electronic warfare to the military use of civilian infrastructure – risk undermining boundaries between military and civilian domains. These changes challenge long-held...
How the U.S. Military Learned to Embrace AI Warfare
A review of Katrina Manson, “Project Maven: A Marine Colonel, His Team, and the Dawn of AI Warfare” (Norton, 2026).
Statement from Dario Amodei on our discussions with the Department of War
A statement from our CEO on national security uses of AI
Russia’s FPV drone campaign in Ukraine institutionalizes intentional civilian harm as a tool of war
Russia's use of FPV drones to strike civilian targets in Ukraine indicates a culture seeking to weaponize civilian harm as a tool of war.
Protecting civilians in a data-driven and digitalized battlespace: toward a baseline humanitarian technology infrastructure
This article examines the realities of modern day warfare, including a rising trend in hybrid threats and irregular warfare which employ emerging technologies supported by digital and data-driven processes. The way in which these technologies become applied generates a widened battlefield and leads to a greater number of civilians being caught up in conflict. Humanitarian groups mandated to protect civilians have adapted their approaches to the use of new emerging technologies. However, the lack of international consensus on the use of data, the public and private nature of the actors involved in conflict, the transnational aspects of the widened battlefield, and the heightened security risks in the conflict space pose enormous challenges for the protection of civilians agenda. Based on the dual-usage aspect of emerging technologies, the challenges associated with regulation and the need for those affected by conflict to demonstrate resilience toward, and knowledge of, digital media literacy, this paper proposes the development of guidance for a "minimum basic technology infrastructure" which is supported by technology, regulation, and public awareness and education
Opportunities to Improve Military Policies and Practices to Reduce Civilian Harm From Explosive Weapons in Urban Conflict
This research paper seeks to contribute to further thinking and dialogue among States and their militaries that conduct operations in urbanized environments on what more can be done to reduce civilian harm by proposing practical measures in the form of options for consideration. UNIDIR seeks to enhance knowledge on ways to reduce risks and mitigate harm to civilians from the effects of explosive weapons in urbanized environments. This research frames the issue of explosive weapons in the broader context of protection of civilians in urban conflict and focuses on multilateral operations. The research takes a comprehensive approach to civilian protection from a ‘risk reduction’ perspective—that is, seeking to understand where the risks and uncertainties lie in the entire ‘civilian protection life cycle’, recognizing that civilian harm is the cumulative effect of numerous risks and decisions made from formulating mandates, planning, execution, assessment and response to lessons learned and institutional learning. Particular focus is placed on the targeting and weaponeering processes. Citation: Roger Lane, Larry Lewis and Himayu Shiotani (2019) "Opportunities to Improve Military Policies and Practices to Reduce Civilian Harm From Explosive Weapons in Urban Conflict", UNIDIR, Geneva, Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.37559/CAAP/19/PACAV/11 TRANSLATIONS To read the report in French, click here.
The Myth of Allied Technological Inferiority
World War II, The Free Press, and the Problematic Use of History in Contemporary Media
A Systems Literacy Manifesto
In 1968, West Churchman wrote, “…there is a good deal of turmoil about the manner in which our society is run. …the citizen has begun to suspect that the people who make major decisions that affect our lives don’t know what they are doing.”[1] Churchman was writing at a time of growing concern about war, civil rights, and the environment. Almost fifty years later, these concerns remain, and we have more reason than ever “to suspect that the people who make major decisions that affect our lives don’t know what they are doing.” Examples abound.
The Civilian Impact of Drones: Unexamined Costs, Unanswered Questions | Center for Civilians in Conflict
This joint report from the Center for Civilians in Conflict and Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Clinic is an in-depth look at the US government’s covert drone program and its impact on civilian populations. Our objective is to critically assess US government procedures and standards for ensuring civilian protection and responding to civilian harm from…
The war in Ukraine as an example of the problematic nature of the effective use of mobilized civilians
The war in Ukraine has underscored not only the strategic and military differences between professional soldiers and mobilized civilians but also the complex…
Revisiting Iran's Missile and Drone Campaign
An early reflection on my writing and thinking during the war
Cognitive Warfare Through the Lens of Critical Neuroscience: Data, Theory, and Values
This study examines cognitive warfare through the lens of critical neuroscience and situates it within peace research as a methodological contribution. Cognitive warfare-understood as the strategic modulation of perception, belief, and decision-making-highlights how the human mind has become a contested domain of contemporary conflict. The weaponization of neuroscience unfolds within sociocultural contexts where empirical findings, theoretical interpretations, and normative commitments are deeply entangled. Drawing on Johan Galtung’s epistemological triad of data, theory, and values, I propose a framework for analyzing cognitive warfare that makes explicit the normative dimensions of neuroscientific knowledge. This perspective highlights not only the weaponization of neuroscience itself, but also of its reputation: exaggerated claims and neuropolitical imaginaries can shape expectations, distort public discourse, and erode trust in science independently of actual technological capabilities. Applying this framework, the study examines resilience and solidarity as two domains in which empirical mechanisms, theoretical interpretations, and normative priors intersect. Cognitive warfare is shown to undermine resilience by destabilizing shared models of reality, while evolutionary and social dynamics demonstrate the long-term advantages of cooperation, reciprocity, and generosity over manipulation and defection. By integrating critical neuroscience with peace research, the article advances an expanded notion of peace as the safeguarding of mental and social autonomy-conditions under which cognition remains free from systematic manipulation and capable of sustaining cooperative forms of life.
War correspondents given 5 drone detectors – NUJU and Ukrainian manufacturer’s initiative
The sharp increase in drone attacks in frontline areas creates a new, even more dangerous reality for journalists. In response to the escalation of threats
