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

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

ECOSOC Panel United Nations News

Dr Erica Harper Warns of Dangerous Global Conflict Surge at UN ECOSOC Panel

23 June 2025

Our Head of Research and Policy Studies, Dr Erica Harper, spoke at a United Nations Economic and Social Council panel on June 16th, focused on Humanitarian Aid Under Siege.

Read more

A general view of participants during of the 33nd ordinary session of the Human Rights Council. Training

The Universal Periodic Review and the UN Human Rights System: Raising the Bar on Accountability

10-14 November 2025

This training course will explore the origin and evolution of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and its functioning in Geneva and will focus on the nature of implementation of the UPR recommendations at the national level.

Read more

Session of the UN Human Rights Committee Project

Treaty Body Review 2020 and Beyond

Started in January 2018

The Geneva Human Rights Platform contributes to this review process by providing expert input via different avenues, by facilitating dialogue on the review among various stakeholders, as well as by accompanying the development of a follow-up resolution to 68/268 in New York and in Geneva.

Read more

Sign: National Human Rights Commission of Nepal Project

Local Implementation of Global Human Rights

Started in May 2020

The Geneva Human Rights Platform collaborates with a series of actors to reflect on the implementation of international human rights norms at the local level and propose solutions to improve uptake of recommendations and decisions taken by Geneva-based human rights bodies at the local level.

Read more

Cover of the 2023 Geneva Academy Annual Report Publication

Annual Report 2024

published on July 2025

Read more