The rules on armed conflict on Earth are a major source of restraint on military operations. But the rules on the use of weapons in outer space are far from clear. We need to change that.
Mozambique returns to the limelight following controversy over its external debt. How can the country contain this situation and avoid a downward spiral?
The debate over whether lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS) – often called ‘killer robots’ – should be banned continues, although it’s far from settled.
Should future wars be fought by autonomous systems? Or do they pose such a threat that they should be banned? These issues are being debated this week by diplomats from around the world.
While the US still dominates global arms exports, Russia takes a close second as rising instability increases demand for the latest high-tech weaponry and surveillance gear.
Barack Obama is considering supplying “lethal defensive weapons” to Ukraine. But how meaningful is that description? There are simply “weapons”, all of which can be used for defence or for aggression.
The world’s largest non-nuclear bomb, and easily the most powerful “earthquake bomb” ever built, has now been tested and can be delivered by the B-2 stealth bomber. While the Massive Ordnance Penetrator…
The latest corner of World War II to be dramatised for the big screen is small. Cramped, even. In Fury, starring Brad Pitt and Shia leBeouf, we follow the story of five American soldiers, a crew serving…
In August 2014, the police who faced protesters in Ferguson, Missouri looked more like soldiers than officers of the peace. Citizens squared off with a camouflage-clad police force armed with tear gas…
Revelations of the theft of firearms from Victorian MP Peter Crisp’s farm draws attention to a genuine but often overlooked link between farm crime and criminal events in urban communities. Discussions…
Seemingly every day, the news provides examples of the deadly consequences of weapons falling into the hands of criminals, pirates, terrorist groups, rebels, and oppressive regimes. A natural reaction…
The Financial Times last week reported the UK government is pushing for new restrictions on software – in particular, on tools that would prevent surveillance by the state. This was the focus of negotiations…
The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, a network of NGOs and academics, has done us all a valuable service by drawing attention to the development of unmanned systems that are able to kill without direct…
It would take a hard-hearted person not to have been moved to tears by the images on our television screens of Syria over the last week - of infants struggling to breathe while their parents looked on…
President Obama’s confirmation that the United States would begin arming Syrian rebels has prompted an urgent debate about both the legality and the effectiveness of the decision. The announcement, ahead…
The United Nations on Tuesday approved the first treaty on the global arms trade which would regulate a business that amounts to over US$70 billion. There were 154 nations in favour, three against and…
Professor, School for the Future of Innovation in Society & School of Computing, Informatics and Decision Systems Engineering, Arizona State University