Event information

26 February 2020, 14:00-16:00

Downloads

Flyer >

ESIL Lecture: Disruptive Military Technologies

Event

Photos taken from the Norse Attack Map.     The map shows in realtime attacks that happen on the Norse honeypots. Photos taken from the Norse Attack Map.     The map shows in realtime attacks that happen on the Norse honeypots.

New (military) technologies are set to revolutionize the ways wars are fought. Technological advances in the fields of cyberspace and artificial intelligence are at the forefront of contemporary geopolitical power struggles and are already bringing about major transformative shifts in military and humanitarian affairs. Military spending in these fields has increased dramatically in recent years, a new type of arms race has ensued and the deployment of new military technologies is no longer a hidden battlefield reality. These developments will have far-reaching and not yet fully understood consequences for future humanitarian protection needs and the humanitarian legal framework at large. Yet, in spite of many years of discussion and an inflation of norm clarification processes, dissent and ambiguity even around basic legal principles abound.

Against this backdrop, this ESIL Lecture by Robin Geiß, Swiss Chair of International Humanitarian Law at the Geneva Academy and Professor of International Law and Security at the University of Glasgow, will explore the disruptive potential of a range of new military technologies with a particular focus on those areas where these technologies could fall through the cracks of the international legal order.

Video

ESIL Lecture: Disruptive Military Technologies

Missed the ISIL lecture on Disruptive Military Technologies with Robin Geiß, Swiss Chair of International Humanitarian Law at the Geneva Academy and Professor of International Law and Security at the University of Glasgow. He explored the disruptive potential of new military technologies and where these technologies could fall through the cracks of the international legal order.

 

MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

A GHRP training course News

Training Opportunities 2025: Engage with UN Human Rights Mechanisms

28 January 2025

The Geneva Human Rights Platform is launching its 2025 training programme, designed to empower stakeholders engaging with UN human rights system.

Read more

IHL in Focus Spot Report News

Spot Report – Water Crisis in War and Under Occupation: Current Israeli Policy and Practice in Occupied Palestinian Territory Under International Humanitarian Law

16 June 2025

The Geneva Academy has published a new spot report analysing Israeli policy and practice relating to water in the Occupied Palestinian Territory through the lens of IHL.

Read more

Warzone Event

Advanced IHL Seminar for Academics and Policymakers

25-29 August 2025, 09:00-17:30

Co-hosted with the ICRC, this event aims to enhance the capacity of academics to teach and research international humanitarian law, while also equipping policymakers with an in-depth understanding of ongoing legal debates.

Read more

Training

Human Rights and the Environment: Introducing Legal Regimes and Key Issues

1-8 September 2025

Participants in this training course will be introduced to the major international and regional instruments for the promotion of human rights, as well as international environmental law and its implementation and enforcement mechanisms.

Read more

Open dump Training

Protecting Human Rights and the Environment

15-19 September 2025

Participants in this training course will gain practical insights into UN human rights mechanisms and their role in environmental protection and learn about how to address the interplay between international human rights and environmental law, and explore environmental litigation paths.

Read more

surveillance image of people Project

Human Rights in a Digitalized World: Mapping Risk, Strengthening Regulation and Promoting the Development of International Human Rights Law

Started in August 2023

To unpack the challenges raised by artificial intelligence, this project will target two emerging and under-researched areas: digital military technologies and neurotechnology.

Read more

A session of the UN Human Rights Council Project

IHL Expert Pool

Started in January 2022

The IHL-EP works to strengthen the capacity of human rights mechanisms to incorporate IHL into their work in an efficacious and comprehensive manner. By so doing, it aims to address the normative and practical challenges that human rights bodies encounter when dealing with cases in which IHL applies.

Read more

Cover Page of Research Brief Publication

War on Minorities’ Under the Guise of Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism

published on December 2024

Beatrice Meretti

Read more

Cover Page of Research Brief Publication

Navigating Pathways Toward Transitional Justice in Ukraine

published on October 2024

Robin van der Lugt, Chhime Namdol Sherpa

Read more