Above the Law: drone warfare and the remaking of international humanitarian law

Military drones play a central – and increasing – role in armed conflicts, informing military decision-makers in real time. This project studies the effects of drone technologies on the application of international humanitarian law in recent and current conflicts.

Our initial findings demonstrate that while adding relevant and time-sensitive information, these visuals construct an imperfect representation of people and spaces, placing additional burdens on decision-makers, and creating a persuasive virtual representation of the actual conditions on the ground. The project utilises interdisciplinary analysis of critical security studies, behavioural economics, and international law literature to study how drone warfare shapes the practice of international humanitarian law. Based on rich qualitative data from US and Israeli military investigations and a series of vignette studies in Australia, Germany, and the US, the project identifies three types of challenges stemming from the mounting reliance on drones to inform military operations: technical challenges, relating to the technical capabilities and features of drone technologies; cognitive challenges, relating to decision-making biases affecting human decision-makers; and human-technological challenges, relating to the human-machine interaction itself. The project develops ways to mitigate these challenges, improve the application of international humanitarian law, and protect people, animals, and the environment during armed conflicts.