International Norms and Autonomous Weapons — Ingvild Bode

This episode of The IR thinker examines how autonomous weapon systems are challenging and reshaping global norms, in conversation with Professor Ingvild Bode. Drawing on the AutoNorms project, the discussion explores how AI-driven military technologies blur established legal and ethical boundaries, how norms can emerge “from below” through everyday military and technological practices rather than only via treaties, and why traditional rationalist and institutionalist approaches struggle to capture these dynamics. The episode looks at divergent national perspectives in China, Japan, Russia and the United States, the limits of formal diplomatic and legal processes, the risks of normative fragmentation for the so-called rules-based order, and the underexplored role of deterrence, resistance and disinformation in the governance of autonomous weapons.Ingvild BodeIngvild Bode is Professor of International Relations and Director of the Centre for War Studies at the University of Southern Denmark. Her research focuses on processes of policy and normative change in global security, with particular emphasis on artificial intelligence in the military domain, the use of force, AI governance, United Nations peacekeeping and the dynamics of the UN Security Council.Publications:Emergent normativity: Communities of Practice, technology, and Lethal Autonomous Weapon SystemsMachine guardians: The Terminator, ai narratives and US Regulatory discourse on lethal autonomous weapons systemsAutonomous weapons systems and changing norms in international relationsContent00:00 - Introduction02:01 - The Motivation Behind the AutoNorms Project04:18 - Bridging the Research Gap on Technology in International Relations06:27 - Key Findings and Outcomes of AutoNorms08:16 - Autonomous Weapons and the Evolution of International Norms11:50 - Theoretical Foundations: War Theory in the Research14:06 - Bottom-Up vs. Top-Down Norm Development in Global Security17:13 - Understanding Social Norms Through AutoNorms18:25 - Investigating Practices That Shape AWS Norms19:50 - Challenging Rationalist and Institutionalist Approaches to Security25:08 - The Grand Theory Behind AutoNorms27:21 - Data Collection Strategies in the Research32:23 - Managing Confidentiality and Restricted Information35:54 - Why China, Japan, Russia, and the U.S.? Case Selection Criteria38:42 - Divergent National Perspectives on AWS and Security44:08 - Engagement with Formal Diplomatic and Legal Processes46:58 - Normative Fragmentation: A Challenge to the Rules-Based Order?50:10 - Resistance to Emerging Norms and Key Actors53:25 - The Role of Deterrence in AWS Governance55:46 - Does the EU Have a Unified AWS Research Programme?58:26 - Unexpected Findings in the Research Process01:00:24 - Underexplored Areas in AWS Norm ResearchFollow & Further ResourcesSubstack: https://theirthinker.substack.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ir-thinker/X: https://x.com/irthinker_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theirthinker/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theirthinker.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/irthinkerfb Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.