Neil C Renic
Biographic Data
| ID | 1667660 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Neil C Renic |
| GIVEN NAMES | Neil C |
| FAMILY NAME | Renic |
| SIGNATURE | RENIC N C |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Copenhagen |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7778-1293 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 22 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
A civilizational imaginary of Western military technology
Dirty hands, savage enemies, and bad apples
In this paper, we detail and critique dominant narratives of war crime apologia. These narratives portray the circumstances of a war crime, the perpetrator’s character and motives, and the broader context in which the crime occurred, in ways that minimise or negate the perpetrator’s moral, and sometimes legal, blameworthiness. In section one, we identify and critique three broad categories: (1) individualising narratives (‘uncommon practice’), (2…
Forum
This forum urges international relations (IR) practitioners to rethink the nature of both failure and success, and their own responsibility in building an academy that enables scholars of all backgrounds to thrive. Reflecting on their own experiences, the contributors detail factors that commonly stymie promising work in IR. These range from the quotidian—rejections during peer review and frustrations around network-building—to more serious imped…
Tragic reflection, political wisdom, and the future of algorithmic war
Artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques are being developed to improve decision making around the resort to force. These technologies are valued for their capacity to rapidly collect and analyse big data, model unique courses of action, offer probabilistic recommendations and predictions regarding the type and degree of force required, and evaluate the benefits, risks, and costs of action and inaction. Those concerned with these d…
The Tragedy Trap
The discourse of tragedy has significant value in a military context, reminding us of the temptations of hubris, the prevalence of moral dilemmas, and the inescapable limits of foresight. Today, however, this discourse is drawn upon too heavily. Within the tragicized politics of nuclear and drone violence, foreseeable and solvable problems are reconceptualized as intractable dilemmas, and morally accountable agents are reframed as powerless obser…
The Cost of Atrocity
Since commencing its illegal invasion in 2022, the Russian military and authorities have committed numerous war crimes against the people of Ukraine. These include the mutilation and execution of combatants; the torture, kidnapping, forced expulsion, rape, and massacre of civilians; and indiscriminate attacks on densely populated areas. In this essay, I evaluate the strategic implications of this misconduct, focusing exclusively on Western respon…
Crimes of Dispassion
Systematic killing has long been associated with some of the darkest episodes in human history. Increasingly, however, it is framed as a desirable outcome in war, particularly in the context of military AI and lethal autonomy. Autonomous weapons systems, defenders argue, will surpass humans not only militarily but also morally, enabling a more precise and dispassionate mode of violence, free of the emotion and uncertainty that too often weaken co…
Superweapons and the myth of technological peace
In this article, I trace and critique the discourse of “The Superweapon Peace”—the long-standing and enduring idea that weapons of radical destructiveness, both nuclear and non-nuclear, can force an end to war by rendering it too destructive to contemplate. The Superweapon Peace, I argue, is constituted by three elements. The first is an assumption of war as a controllable and resolvable problem. Within this formulation, superweapons function as …
Violence re-directed
In this article, we argue in favour of a conceptual expansion of the Just War idea of 'due care', to include the foreseeable, but indirect harm generated by Western force protection. This harm includes the phenomenon of 'casualty displacement warfare' - circumstances in which the prioritisation and relative success of Western force protection incentivises some Western adversaries to redirect more of their own violence away from Western soldiers a…
Response to Michael J. Boyle’s Review of Asymmetric Killing
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Modern Lawfare
The changing character of armed conflict, combined with the transformation of the global media landscape, has fundamentally altered the experience of war for Western audiences. Although physically distanced from its cost to a historically unprecedented degree, the virtual proximity of the average citizen to war has never been closer. Military first-person shooter (FPS) gaming is a critical component of this dynamic, functioning as the principle m…
Battlefield Mercy
Debates over how best to ensure appropriate conduct in battle typically draw a binary distinction between rule compliance and rule violation. This framing is problematic, excluding a critical third element of battlefield conduct, supererogation—that is, positive acts that go beyond what is demanded by the explicit rules of war. This article investigates this moral category of action; specifically, situations in which combatants refrain from takin…
Justified killing in an age of radically asymmetric warfare
The growing ability of the US to kill with impunity in war has prompted some to question whether such advantage challenges the moral justifications for inter-combatant violence. This scholarship, however, has yet to properly clarify both the explicit and tacit role of reciprocal risk within this moral determination. A systematic explanation is needed of the function of risk in the right to kill in war. This article engages with the in bello compo…
A Gardener's Vision
UAVs undermine the shared recognition of humanity between enemies that has historically functioned as a prerequisite for battlefield restraint
Crimes of Dispassion
Systematic killing has long been associated with some of the darkest episodes in human history. Increasingly, however, it is framed as a desirable outcome in war, particularly in the context of military AI and lethal autonomy. Autonomous weapons systems, defenders argue, will surpass humans not only militarily but also morally, enabling a more precise and dispassionate mode of violence, free of the emotion and uncertainty that too often weaken co…
Superweapons and the myth of technological peace
In this article, I trace and critique the discourse of “The Superweapon Peace”—the long-standing and enduring idea that weapons of radical destructiveness, both nuclear and non-nuclear, can force an end to war by rendering it too destructive to contemplate. The Superweapon Peace, I argue, is constituted by three elements. The first is an assumption of war as a controllable and resolvable problem. Within this formulation, superweapons function as …
Tragic reflection, political wisdom, and the future of algorithmic war
Artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques are being developed to improve decision making around the resort to force. These technologies are valued for their capacity to rapidly collect and analyse big data, model unique courses of action, offer probabilistic recommendations and predictions regarding the type and degree of force required, and evaluate the benefits, risks, and costs of action and inaction. Those concerned with these d…
The Tragedy Trap
The discourse of tragedy has significant value in a military context, reminding us of the temptations of hubris, the prevalence of moral dilemmas, and the inescapable limits of foresight. Today, however, this discourse is drawn upon too heavily. Within the tragicized politics of nuclear and drone violence, foreseeable and solvable problems are reconceptualized as intractable dilemmas, and morally accountable agents are reframed as powerless obser…
Justified killing in an age of radically asymmetric warfare
The growing ability of the US to kill with impunity in war has prompted some to question whether such advantage challenges the moral justifications for inter-combatant violence. This scholarship, however, has yet to properly clarify both the explicit and tacit role of reciprocal risk within this moral determination. A systematic explanation is needed of the function of risk in the right to kill in war. This article engages with the in bello compo…
A Gardener's Vision
UAVs undermine the shared recognition of humanity between enemies that has historically functioned as a prerequisite for battlefield restraint
The Cost of Atrocity
Since commencing its illegal invasion in 2022, the Russian military and authorities have committed numerous war crimes against the people of Ukraine. These include the mutilation and execution of combatants; the torture, kidnapping, forced expulsion, rape, and massacre of civilians; and indiscriminate attacks on densely populated areas. In this essay, I evaluate the strategic implications of this misconduct, focusing exclusively on Western respon…
Modern Lawfare
The changing character of armed conflict, combined with the transformation of the global media landscape, has fundamentally altered the experience of war for Western audiences. Although physically distanced from its cost to a historically unprecedented degree, the virtual proximity of the average citizen to war has never been closer. Military first-person shooter (FPS) gaming is a critical component of this dynamic, functioning as the principle m…
A Gardener's Vision
UAVs undermine the shared recognition of humanity between enemies that has historically functioned as a prerequisite for battlefield restraint
Battlefield Mercy
Debates over how best to ensure appropriate conduct in battle typically draw a binary distinction between rule compliance and rule violation. This framing is problematic, excluding a critical third element of battlefield conduct, supererogation—that is, positive acts that go beyond what is demanded by the explicit rules of war. This article investigates this moral category of action; specifically, situations in which combatants refrain from takin…
Justified killing in an age of radically asymmetric warfare
The growing ability of the US to kill with impunity in war has prompted some to question whether such advantage challenges the moral justifications for inter-combatant violence. This scholarship, however, has yet to properly clarify both the explicit and tacit role of reciprocal risk within this moral determination. A systematic explanation is needed of the function of risk in the right to kill in war. This article engages with the in bello compo…
Response to Michael J. Boyle’s Review of Asymmetric Killing
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Modern Lawfare
The changing character of armed conflict, combined with the transformation of the global media landscape, has fundamentally altered the experience of war for Western audiences. Although physically distanced from its cost to a historically unprecedented degree, the virtual proximity of the average citizen to war has never been closer. Military first-person shooter (FPS) gaming is a critical component of this dynamic, functioning as the principle m…
Crimes of Dispassion
Systematic killing has long been associated with some of the darkest episodes in human history. Increasingly, however, it is framed as a desirable outcome in war, particularly in the context of military AI and lethal autonomy. Autonomous weapons systems, defenders argue, will surpass humans not only militarily but also morally, enabling a more precise and dispassionate mode of violence, free of the emotion and uncertainty that too often weaken co…
Superweapons and the myth of technological peace
In this article, I trace and critique the discourse of “The Superweapon Peace”—the long-standing and enduring idea that weapons of radical destructiveness, both nuclear and non-nuclear, can force an end to war by rendering it too destructive to contemplate. The Superweapon Peace, I argue, is constituted by three elements. The first is an assumption of war as a controllable and resolvable problem. Within this formulation, superweapons function as …
Violence re-directed
In this article, we argue in favour of a conceptual expansion of the Just War idea of 'due care', to include the foreseeable, but indirect harm generated by Western force protection. This harm includes the phenomenon of 'casualty displacement warfare' - circumstances in which the prioritisation and relative success of Western force protection incentivises some Western adversaries to redirect more of their own violence away from Western soldiers a…
Forum
This forum urges international relations (IR) practitioners to rethink the nature of both failure and success, and their own responsibility in building an academy that enables scholars of all backgrounds to thrive. Reflecting on their own experiences, the contributors detail factors that commonly stymie promising work in IR. These range from the quotidian—rejections during peer review and frustrations around network-building—to more serious imped…
Tragic reflection, political wisdom, and the future of algorithmic war
Artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques are being developed to improve decision making around the resort to force. These technologies are valued for their capacity to rapidly collect and analyse big data, model unique courses of action, offer probabilistic recommendations and predictions regarding the type and degree of force required, and evaluate the benefits, risks, and costs of action and inaction. Those concerned with these d…
The Tragedy Trap
The discourse of tragedy has significant value in a military context, reminding us of the temptations of hubris, the prevalence of moral dilemmas, and the inescapable limits of foresight. Today, however, this discourse is drawn upon too heavily. Within the tragicized politics of nuclear and drone violence, foreseeable and solvable problems are reconceptualized as intractable dilemmas, and morally accountable agents are reframed as powerless obser…
The Cost of Atrocity
Since commencing its illegal invasion in 2022, the Russian military and authorities have committed numerous war crimes against the people of Ukraine. These include the mutilation and execution of combatants; the torture, kidnapping, forced expulsion, rape, and massacre of civilians; and indiscriminate attacks on densely populated areas. In this essay, I evaluate the strategic implications of this misconduct, focusing exclusively on Western respon…
Dirty hands, savage enemies, and bad apples
In this paper, we detail and critique dominant narratives of war crime apologia. These narratives portray the circumstances of a war crime, the perpetrator’s character and motives, and the broader context in which the crime occurred, in ways that minimise or negate the perpetrator’s moral, and sometimes legal, blameworthiness. In section one, we identify and critique three broad categories: (1) individualising narratives (‘uncommon practice’), (2…
A civilizational imaginary of Western military technology
Political science (12 works) · Law (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Law (9 works) · Law and economics (7 works) · War, Ethics, and Justification (7 works) · Spanish Civil War (6 works) · Just war theory (5 works) · Torture, Ethics, and Law (5 works) · Battlefield (4 works)