How Targeted Killings Are Reshaping Modern Warfare
In Ukraine, a New Arsenal of Killer A.I. Drones Is Being Born
As the war grinds on, sophisticated Russian defenses have pushed Ukraine to develop a frightening new weapon: semiautonomous killing machines.
Drugs as weapons against us: the CIA's murderous targeting of SDS, Panthers, Hendrix, Lennon, Cobain, Tupac, and other activists
Drugs as Weapons Against Us meticulously details how a …
History Illustrated: Death from above: Drones take aim at gangs in Haiti
The use of ‘kamikaze’ drones to target gang members in crowded Haitian slums being called ‘ineffective’.
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...
When is Political Violence Justified
What the Liberal Tradition Says on the Subject
Junta’s Massacres from Sky and Ground: Civilian Protection at Risk in Myanmar - Progressive Voice
The Myanmar military junta has systematically and deliberately carried out mass atrocities against civilians through coordinated aerial bombardments and ground assaults across the country since the attempted coup in February 2021. These acts amount to war crimes[...]
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.
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 Political Declaration — UNODA
Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas
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.
Cheap drones, costly consequences: the legal and humanitarian risks and outcomes of low-tech drone warfare
The article examines the recent and rapid proliferation of cheap, unsophisticated “kamikaze” drones, as well as the legal and moral challenges they present in modern warfare. As countries increasin...
War in the Smartphone Age | Hurst Publishers
An essential guide to understanding war and information on today’s data-saturated battlefields—from Ukraine to Gaza and beyond.
It's Safer in the Front
Faced with intensifying repression and state violence, there is an understandable inclination to seek safety by avoiding confrontation. But this is not always the most effective strategy.
CFP: Religion, Politics, and Cognitive Warfare | The Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory | JCRT
This call for papers invites work on religion, politics, and cognitive warfare, exploring how belief, media, conspiracy, identity, and power shape struggles over reality, interpretation, and life in an age of disinformat
These Ukrainian women survived a massacre. Now, they're shooting down Russian drones
Women from a Kyiv suburb traumatized by a 2022 massacre by Russian troops joined an all-female volunteer air defense unit to deal with their fears.
