Killer Robots as cultural techniques

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tero Karppi ◽  
Marc Böhlen ◽  
Yvette Granata
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Human Intervention ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Weapon Systems ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Autonomous Weapons ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Operational Processes ◽  
The Military ◽  
Robotic Research

In October 2012 a group of non-governmental organizations formed a Campaign to Stop Killer Robots. The aim of this campaign was to preemptively ban fully autonomous weapons capable of selecting and engaging targets without human intervention. The campaign gained momentum swiftly, leading to different legal and political discussions and decision-makings. In this article, we use the framework of cultural techniques to analyze the different operational processes, tactics, and ethics underlying the debates surrounding developments of autonomous weapon systems. From reading the materials of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots and focusing on current robotic research in the military context we argue that, instead of demonizing Killer Robots as such, we need to understand the tools, processes and operating procedures that create, support and validate these objects. The framework of cultural techniques help us to analyze how autonomous technologies draw distinctions between life and death, human and machine, culture and technology, and what it means to be in control of these systems in the 21st century.

Playing with principles in an era of securitized aid

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Róisín Shannon
Keyword(s):  
Regime Change ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Humanitarian Action ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Ability To Act ◽  
Constrained Environments ◽  
Humanitarian Space ◽  
Private Corporations ◽  
The Military

The international community's response to reconstructing Afghanistan, following the US-led regime change invasion post-11 September 2001 (9/11), brought actors such as the military and private corporations more fully into the humanitarian sphere. As a result, the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), traditionally charged with taking humanitarian action, face a number of challenges and dilemmas. Their legitimacy and their ability to act impartially, be perceived as neutral and to maintain their independence have become increasingly constrained. How the NGOs adapt when their humanitarian space is constrained affects who, where and what aid gets delivered and on what principles. However, little is known about the dynamics of humanitarian space or how the NGOs have adapted in practice. Filling the gap in empirical knowledge might enable the NGOs to deal better with the constrained environments they are likely to encounter as the ‘war on terror’ continues to unfold. This research, based on field work in Afghanistan during mid-2006, suggests the politicization, developmentalization and securitization of aid, often referred to as ‘new humanitarianism’, has triumphed in the post-9/11 environment. The role of the NGOs as neutral actors has been seriously undermined, not least by the NGOs themselves. Having legitimized regime change intervention, they find themselves prevented from negotiating their space with any group not approved by the architects of the new political dispensation. As the country slips towards a serious humanitarian crisis, there may be no way back from their lost neutrality. The best use that can be made of these findings is to identify what the Afghanistan experience can teach NGOs for operating under constrained humanitarianism.

The Ethics & Morality of Robotic Warfare: Assessing the Debate over Autonomous Weapons

Daedalus ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 145 (4) ◽  
pp. 25-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Horowitz
Keyword(s):  
Just War Theory ◽  
The United States ◽  
Military Force ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Weapon Systems ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Autonomous Weapons ◽  
Operational Systems ◽  
The Subject

There is growing concern in some quarters that the drones used by the United States and others represent precursors to the further automation of military force through the use of lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS). These weapons, though they do not generally exist today, have already been the subject of multiple discussions at the United Nations. Do autonomous weapons raise unique ethical questions for warfare, with implications for just war theory? This essay describes and assesses the ongoing debate, focusing on the ethical implications of whether autonomous weapons can operate effectively, whether human accountability and responsibility for autonomous weapon systems are possible, and whether delegating life and death decisions to machines inherently undermines human dignity. The concept of LAWS is extremely broad and this essay considers LAWS in three categories: munition, platforms, and operational systems.

scholarly journals Vulnerabilidade da mulher em meio à insurgência militar no norte de Moçambique | Women's vulnerability amidst the military insurgency in northern Mozambique

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-105
Author(s):  
João Abilo Lázaro ◽  
Clélia Peretti ◽  
Jaci De Fátima Souza Candiotto
Keyword(s):  
Islamic Law ◽  
Human Person ◽  
Internal Factors ◽  
Conflict Zones ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Women And Children ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Military ◽  
Peace And Conflict Resolution

No presente artigo, objetiva-se descrever a situação de violação sexual de mulheres e crianças, por insurgentes, em Cabo Delgado, Moçambique, desde 2017. A insurgência é complexa e alimentada por fatores internos, sobretudo éticos e sociais. Busca-se analisar as condições de vulnerabilidade das mulheres obrigadas a viverem nos locais de insurgência militar, no norte de Moçambique, na Província de Cabo Delgado. O artigo: 1) apresenta uma breve descrição do contexto em que se instala o conflito, os desafios dos deslocados, as condições de vulnerabilidade das mulheres e crianças nas zonas do conflito, as estratégias utilizadas pelos insurgentes para causar medo e pânico na população e impor um governo fundamentado na lei islâmica; 2) discorre sobre as ações humanitárias realizadas pela Diocese de Pemba, organizações governamentais e não-governamentais e organismos internacionais; 3) reflete sobre a necessidade de justiça e solidariedade como um dever comunitário na busca pela paz e de resolução dos conflitos; 4) Enfatiza que o bem, a justiça e a solidariedade são importantes para garantir o inalienável direito de dignidade da pessoa humana; 5) destaca a importância do resgate dos direitos individuais e sociais das mulheres e crianças violentadas, bem como o resgate de suas narrativas. In this article, the objective is to describe the situation of sexual violation of women and children, by insurgents, in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, since 2017. The insurgency is complex and fueled by internal factors, above all ethical and social. It seeks to analyze the conditions of the vulnerability of women forced to live in places of military insurgency, in northern Mozambique, in Cabo Delgado Province. The article: 1) Presents a brief description of the context in which the conflict takes place, the challenges of the displaced, the vulnerable conditions of women and children in the conflict zones, the strategies used by insurgents to cause fear and panic in the population and to impose a government based on Islamic law; 2) discusses the humanitarian actions carried out by the Diocese of Pemba, governmental and non-governmental organizations, and international organizations: 3) reflects on the need for justice and solidarity as a community duty in the search for peace and conflict resolution; 4) Emphasizes that goodness, justice and solidarity are important to guarantee the inalienable right to dignity of the human person; 5) highlights the importance of rescuing the individual and social rights of abused women and children, as well as rescuing their narratives.

scholarly journals Humanitarian Leadership

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Vincenzo Bollettino ◽  
Allyson Brown Kenney ◽  
Sarah Schwartz ◽  
Gilbert Burnham
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Training ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Leadership Competencies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Formal Leadership ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Impact

Leadership skills are essential to addressing today’s humanitarian challenges. While leadership training programs abound in the private sector and within the military, the same is not true for the humanitarian field. International donors have recognized this gap and have recently invested in formal leadership training programs for aid workers. This paper presents a protocol to evaluate the effectiveness of the National NGO Program on Humanitarian Leadership, a leadership training course targeted to humanitarians working for national non-governmental organizations (NGOs) worldwide. The protocol establishes a model for evaluating the impact of NNPHL participants’ ability to make decisions about complex challenges in a manner that is consistent with a core set of leadership competencies introduced in the course. The evaluation consists of scenario-based vignettes that the participants answer in order to assess their leadership competencies through a series of illustrative indicators. This paper also includes a discussion of the definition of leadership, both broadly and through the NNPHL course, and the study’s strengths and limitations along with avenues for future research.      

scholarly journals Dead or Dormant? Docile or Fractured? The Culture of Military Clampdown on Youth Demonstrations and its Repercussions on the 21ST Century Nigerian Youths

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (26) ◽  
pp. 74
Author(s):  
Charles E. Ekpo ◽  
Cletus A. Agorye
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Military Regimes ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Military

The history of military regimes in Nigeria is synonymous with the history of suppression, repression, extricable use of violence, impunity and blatant trampling on fundamental human rights. Exclusive of J. T. U. Ironsi’s short six months in office, every military dictator in Nigeria had propelled himself to the rein through dubious and anti-people means. It was therefore not fortuitous that these praetorian guards, possessing the powers of ‘life and death’, trampled on, subdued, and caged the ‘bloody civilians’ whose social contract they had successfully usurped. Being the most affected, Nigerian youths had in several scenarios, occasions and events staged protests, demonstrations and marches to register their discontentment and resentment towards the military dictatorships. The reactions from the military governments were always violent, brutal, dreadful and aptly horrific. Military regimes went extra miles to enforce authority, legitimacy and acceptability. Whether through killing, maiming, blackmailing, bribing or threats, the youths had to be forced or cajoled into submission. This work focuses on military clampdown on youth demonstrations during the military era. It argues that the various repressive regimes had nurtured a docile and sycophantic youths who either display lackadaisical attitude over issues bothering social contract or are ignorant and nonchalant about governance in the country. Secondary evidences are used in the analysis.

scholarly journals Canis lupus politicus – dyskurs polityczny związany z ochroną wilka we współczesnej Polsce

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michał Figura ◽  
Robert W. Mysłajek
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Canis Lupus ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Second World War ◽  
The Political ◽  
World War ◽  
Political Dialogue ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Second World

The authors analyse the political dialogue regarding wolf protection between pro-nature nongovernmental organizations, hunters and politicians in Poland. Despite strong pressure of hunting lobbies legal status of the wolf has changed significantly, from animal heavily persecuted after Second World War to species strictly protected in whole country since 1998. In 21st century opposition towards wolf protection is fuelled by hunters and politicians connected with them. The analysis shown that strong voice of non-governmental organizations is needed to sustain wolf protection in Poland.

The Holy See’s Position on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-147
Author(s):  
Diego Mauri
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Present Contribution ◽  
Holy See ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Autonomous Weapons ◽  
Legal Standing ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Actual Content ◽  
Weapons Systems

The issue of lethal autonomous weapons systems (laws) goes to the heart of the debate on new warfare technologies: States, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and civil society at large have long been discussing the acceptability of ‘autonomous killing’. The present contribution zooms in on the position held by the Holy See, exploring its content and the main arguments which support the call of a ban on such technology. Both diplomatic statements and doctrinal teachings will be tackled. Importantly, a solid argument for a prohibition of laws is based on the moral unacceptability of autonomous killing, which may assume also a legal standing through the so-called Martens Clause. The history and the actual content of the Clause will be analyzed in order to explore whether – and to what extent – it can be interpreted so as to offer a legal ground for rejecting laws. It will be argued that the Holy See is in a particularly fit position to advocate for a renewed appraisal of the Martens Clause that may help the pro-ban front to structure a more principled debate.

Challenges to the Humanitarian Community: The Role of Academia in Advancing Best Practices and Policy Promotion

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (S2) ◽  
pp. s247-s250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick M. Burkle ◽  
Gib Clarke ◽  
Michael J. VanRooyen
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Human Resource Development ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Humanitarian Action ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Policy Promotion ◽  
Level Institution ◽  
Conflict Information ◽  
The Military

AbstractThe Humanitarian Action Summit is unique in that it focuses solely on chronic, unsolved problems facing the humanitarian community. As an academically-based format, it provides an environment whereby health professionals, non-governmental organizations, donors, academic institutions, governmental agencies, advocates, and the media address and identify potential deliverables and products to improve best practices, field implementation, and policy promotion and acceleration. The Humanitarian Action Summit was preceded by year-long, online Working Groups that addressed human resource development, civilian protection in conflict, information communication and data management, collaboration and collective action in the health sector, mental health in crises and conflict, and the global burden of surgical disease. The Humanitarian Action Summit also addressed new and emerging humanitarian crises such as climate change, the influence of the military on humanitarian aid, and urbanization. This article focuses primarily on an inherent weakness of the humanitarian community—that of promoting humanitarian action into policy. The goal and process of developing a partnership relationship with a policy level institution to address this problem is described in detail.

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