Law and the Future of War

This is the first episode in our special series on entertainment and the law of war.
In this episode, Dr Sebastian Kaempf, a Senior Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies, joins Dr Lauren Sanders to discuss. his documentary: and the documents he's uncovered from the US CIA and military Entertainment Liaison Offices as part of this project.
Dr Sebastian Kaempf is a Senior Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies at the School of Political Science and International Studies, at the University of Queensland. Sebastian received his PhD at Aberystwyth University in the UK, at the Department of International Politics. He also holds a BSc and MSc (Econ) in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Among his awards is the ISA Deborah Gerner Award for Teaching Innovation in 2020. His work at UQ includes producing and convening 'MediaWarX', one of UQ's Massive Open Online Courses.
Sebastian also hosts a podcast with his colleague Associate Professor Al Stark, where they interview some of the best teachers about their practical advice on engaging university students in the classroom. You can listen to 'Higher Ed Heroes' here on Buzzsprout.
Additional Resources:

• ‘Theaters of War: How the Pentagon and CIA took Hollywood’ is a feature-length film documentary, produced and directed by Roger Stahl, Tom Secker, Matthew Alford and Sebastian Kaempf, funded and released through the Media Education Foundation in May 2022.
• Tom Secker and Matthew Alford, ‘New Evidence for the Surprisingly Significant Propaganda Role of the Central Intelligence Agency and Department of Defense in the Screen Entertainment Industry’ (2019) 45(3) Critical Sociology 347.
• Tom Secker and Matthew Alford, ‘Why are the Pentagon and the CIA in Hollywood?’ (2017) 76(2) The American Journal of Economics and Sociology 381.
• James Der Derian, Virtuous War: Mapping the Military-industrial-media-entertainment Network (Routledge, 2nd ed, 2009)

In this interview, we are speaking with Dr Charles Adeogun-Phillips about the history of guilty pleas in international criminal law, as an author of a chapter on the same topic, as part of the edited works, Contemporary International Criminal Law Issues - Contributions in Pursuit of Accountability for Africa and the World. The challenges associated with the running of international criminal trials are extensive, and establishing a process for plea bargaining, to satisfactorily address some of the legal challenges associated with atrocity crimes, is an even more delicate one.
Today we are talking with Dr Adeogun-Phillips about how this process has evolved over the course of the ad hoc tribunals, and what plea bargaining means in terms of accountability for international criminal offences.

Dr Charles A. Adeogun-Phillips is an accomplished international lawyer and former lead international prosecutor. He founded the cross-border law firm of Charles Anthony LLP, following a distinguished legal career at the UN, wherein he successfully led teams of international prosecutors in 12 precedent-setting genocide trials before the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, making him arguably one of the most experienced and successful genocide prosecutors in history. In 2021, he was called to the Bar of England and Wales as a transferring Solicitor, by the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, and practises as a Barrister from the prestigious Guernica 37 (International Justice) Chambers in London and The Hague. In 2022, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) by his alma mater, Warwick University, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the development of international criminal law. He contributed to the book International Criminal Investigations, Law, and Practice—“The Challenges of International Investigations and Prosecutions: Perspectives of a Prosecutor” published by Eleven International, The Hague in 2018. He is the focal point for Nigeria at the ICC Bar Association.

In this episode, Dr Simon McKenzie talks with Michael O'Hanlon about forecasting what the future of military technology holds, and the conflicts should we be planning for or trying to avoid. The speed of technological development and digital transformation makes this job harder than ever. They discuss how he thinks out what the future holds – both technologically and strategically – over the next 20 years and how to prepare for it.

Michael O'Hanlon is a senior fellow and director of research in Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution. He specializes in U.S. defense strategy, the use of military force, and American national security policy. He has several academic appointments, advisory positions and has written extensively on military technology, future conflicts, and the role of American power in the world.
Further reading:

• Michael E. O'Hanlon, Defense 101: Understanding the Military of Today and Tomorrow (2021)
• Michael E. O'Hanlon, The Art of War in an Age of Peace: U.S. Grand Strategy and Resolute Restraint (2021)
• Michael E. O'Hanlon, The Senkaku Paradox: Risking Great Power War Over Small Stakes (2019)
• Michael E. O'Hanlon, The Future of Land Warfare (2015)
• Michael E. O'Hanlon, Technological Change and the Future of Warfare(2000)
• The books of P. W. Singer
• Bruce G. Blair, The End of Nuclear Warfighting: Moving to a Deterrence-Only Posture (2018)
• Bruce G. Blair, The Logic of Accidental Nuclear War(1993)
• James Stavridis & Elliot Ackerman, 2034: A Novel of the Next World War (2021)
• Stephen Rosen, Winning the Next War: Innovation and the Modern Military (1994)

Today we continue our ‘BarbieHeimer’ (or Barbenheimer) series, and are talking today about the meme itself. Is it appropriate to mash these two films together? Is this frivolity making light of the serious impacts of nuclear weapons and the need for a refocus on non-proliferation and disarmament efforts? We speak with a scholar of Visual Politics and Visual Research Methods – Emily Faux - whose doctoral studies focus on what pop culture can tell us about nuclear weapons.

Emily is a PhD candidate at Newcastle University, UK. Her thesis investigates nuclear weapons and war through popular film, television, and video game. She is interested in the contemporary story and popular imagination of nuclear weapons and war, as it exists in the current geopolitical climate. Emily teaches at the University of Leeds and is a member of the FemNukes network, a contributor for HighlyNRiched and has completed both the EU's Young Women in Non-Proliferation and Disarmament mentorship scheme and the University of California's Public Policy and Nuclear Threats course.Edited by Rosie Cavdarski.
Additional resources:

• Emily Faux: What Barbie can teach us about nuclear weapons, The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, 3 August 2023
• Emily Faux: The Untold Stories Behind “Oppenheimer” , InkStick, 18 Jul 2023
• Nukespeak: the Media and the Bomb, edited by Crispin Aubrey
• John Mecklin, An extended interview with Christopher Nolan, director of Oppenheimer, 17 July 2023, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
• Jenny Johnston, Filmmaker on a Mission, 16 August 2020, N Square.

This is the fourth episode in our series about accountability in Ukraine. This episode focuses on the collection and collation of information (and potential evidence) using open-source intelligence. As you will hear, OSINT has played a key role in the development of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and in the monitoring of conflict in Myanmar. Today we are speaking with a world expert in the skills required of open source intelligence collection – Benjamin Strick.

Benjamin is a digital investigator with a background in law, military and technology, specialising in open source intelligence (OSINT), investigations, influence operations, data and maps. He is known for his contributions to multiple streams of human rights abuse investigations; and accountability projects using his online investigation skills, as well as for generating discussion and sharing those skills to democratise OSINT analysis.

Ben is the Director of Investigations for both the Centre for Information Resilience and the Myanmar Witness Project. He was previously an open source investigator with BBC Africa Eye, is a Bellingcat contributor and a co-founder of Ocelli Project. In 2021 he was awarded Open Source Intelligence Champion of the Year for his investment, commitment and contribution to the field.
To learn more about OSINT and how it works, check out Ben's YouTube channel where he posts free digital research tutorials. You can also learn more about Ben and his work by visiting his website or following him on Twitter. See also the OSINT Combine Academy.
To see the Russia-Ukraine Monitor Map, see:
https://maphub.net/Cen4infoRes/russian-ukraine-monitor
To check if your passwords have been hacked and are online, see: https://haveibeenpwned.com/
OSINT Volunteer projects:
National Child Protection Task Force
Europol Stop Child Abuse - Trace an Object
Episode edited by Rosie Carvdarski.