This is the latest in a series of Mitchell Institute Speaker Events promoting dialogues on themes in peace, security and justice which engage with the wide-ranging, interdisciplinary research interests of Institute Fellows and PhD students.

To book your place please RSVP to the Mitchell Institute at mitchell.institute@qub.ac.uk by noon on Monday 19 October 2020.  A meeting link will be sent to you before the event.  

Speakers: Dr Michael J. Boyle (Associate Professor of Political Science, Rutgers Camden) and Professor Debbie Lisle (Professor of International Relations, HAPP, Queen’s University Belfast).

 What impact will drone technology have on the patterns of war and peace in the next century?  Will drones produce a more peaceful world because they reduce risk to pilots, or will the prospect of clean, remote warfare lead governments to engage in more conflicts?  Will drones begin to replace humans on the battlefield or will they empower soldiers and peacekeepers to act more precisely and humanely in crisis zones?  How will terrorist organizations turn this technology back on the governments that fight them?  How will drones change surveillance at war - and at home? As drones come into the hands of new actors – foreign governments, law enforcement, terrorist organizations, humanitarian organizations and even UN peacekeepers, it is even more important to understand what kind of world they might produce. 

 Dr Michael J. Boyle will discuss his new book, The Drone Age: How Drone Technology Will Change War and Peace (Oxford University Press 2020), which explores how the unique features of drone technology alter the strategic choices of governments and non-state actors alike by transforming their risk calculations and expanding their goals on and off the battlefield. By changing what these actors are willing and capable of doing, drones are quietly altering the dynamics of wars, humanitarian crises and peacekeeping missions while generating new risks to security and to privacy. Find out more click Dr Boyle. 

 Professor Debbie Lisle, a leading scholar of Critical Security/War Studies whose publications include Holidays in the Danger Zone: Entanglements of War and Tourism, will respond to Dr Boyle’s talk and offer wider comments on the implications of drone technologies. Find out more click Prof Lisle.

 Series Convenor: Dr Zaheer Kazmi