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Neil Renic

@ncrenic.bsky.social
10K followers 351 following 522 posts

Researcher at the Centre for Military Studies, in Copenhagen. Working on ethics, politics, technology, Just War, drones, and autonomous weapons.

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Reposted by Neil Renic
Jessica Wolfendale @jessicawolfendale.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Trump's weaponization of "terrorism" hides the administration's own uses of terror and reveals the threat of arbitrary power. Sharing this op ed I wrote for ABC Religion & Ethics www.abc.net.au/religion/jes...
abc.net.au
Trump’s weaponisation of the term ‘terrorism’ and the threat of arbitrary power - ABC Religion & Ethics
The Trump administration’s expansive and misleading use of ‘terrorism’ is not just a problem of terminology: rather, it reveals the administration’s blatant disregard of, and even contempt for, extern...
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
I always dreamed of getting a PhD so I could spend half my work week struggling to investigate AI use in essays
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Beautiful New Zealand 🇳🇿
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
🚨Just published with @cspjournal.bsky.social: A Civilisational Imaginary of Western Military Technology I look at how narratives of “civilisation” and “The West” distort thinking around the design, regulation, and use of military technology, including military AI www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
🚨Just published with @cspjournal.bsky.social: A Civilisational Imaginary of Western Military Technology I look at how narratives of “civilisation” and “The West” distort thinking around the design, regulation, and use of military technology, including military AI www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
I don’t think there’s any philosopher who, were they alive today, would have wiser things to say about our current technological condition. Just got hold of this new English translation of Günther Anders.
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Completely agree with this. Tech companies need to recognise that for a not insignificant portion of users, AI has become an inferior stand-in for meaningful human connection, and work to lesson the risk. An ethical duty to dehumanise the non-human. thedispatch.com/article/anth...
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Reposted by Neil Renic
Jessica Dorsey @jessicadorsey.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
The Pentagon/Anthropic Clash Over Military AI Guardrails, my latest @opiniojuris.bsky.social together with @elkeschwarz.bsky.social @profbode.bsky.social @zenaassaad.bsky.social and @ncrenic.bsky.social opiniojuris.org/2026/02/26/t...
opiniojuris.org
The Pentagon/Anthropic Clash Over Military AI Guardrails
[Jessica Dorsey is an Assistant Professor of International Law at Utrecht University School of Law; Elke Schwarz is a Professor of Political Theory at Queen Mary University London; Ingvild Bode is …
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Reposted by Neil Renic
Dr Zena Assaad @zenaassaad.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
If you're looking for a summary of the Anthropic/DoD public debate & the safety, legal & ethical issues @jessicadorsey.bsky.social @elkeschwarz.bsky.social @profbode.bsky.social @ncrenic.bsky.social & I summarised the debate in our @opiniojuris.bsky.social article 👇🏼 opiniojuris.org/2026/02/26/t...
opiniojuris.org
The Pentagon/Anthropic Clash Over Military AI Guardrails
[Jessica Dorsey is an Assistant Professor of International Law at Utrecht University School of Law; Elke Schwarz is a Professor of Political Theory at Queen Mary University London; Ingvild Bode is …
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Reposted by Neil Renic
Dr Zena Assaad @zenaassaad.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
The Anthropic-U.S. DoD public dispute continues. We have unpacked the latest updates & the safety, legal & ethical concerns in our @opiniojuris.bsky.social article @jessicadorsey.bsky.social @elkeschwarz.bsky.social @profbode.bsky.social @ncrenic.bsky.social opiniojuris.org/2026/03/02/i...
opiniojuris.org
(Ir-)Responsible by Design? Corporate Guardrails and the Governance of Military AI
[Jessica Dorsey is an Assistant Professor of International Law at Utrecht University School of Law; Elke Schwarz is a Professor of Political Theory at Queen Mary University London; Ingvild Bode is …
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Reposted by Neil Renic
Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
🚨 Read my new article, where I share some concerns about AI in war and the endless pursuit of optimisation. Open Access! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
AI-optimized violence and the suffocation of moral and political wisdom | Cambridge Forum on AI: Law and Governance | Cambridge Core
AI-optimized violence and the suffocation of moral and political wisdom - Volume 1
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
🚨 Read my new article, where I share some concerns about AI in war and the endless pursuit of optimisation. Open Access! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
AI-optimized violence and the suffocation of moral and political wisdom | Cambridge Forum on AI: Law and Governance | Cambridge Core
AI-optimized violence and the suffocation of moral and political wisdom - Volume 1
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
2024: "I'm voting for Trump to lower the cost of eggs" 2026: "your son died a hero in the Greenlandic liberation wars"
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
I miss the evil billionaires who'd try to buy their way into heaven by funding massive public libraries
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
If you wrote a book 10 years ago that started with, "...the year is 2026, European leaders scramble to prevent a US invasion of Greenland", the editor would tell you to calm down.
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Academics are far too relaxed about writing for two years and having three people read it
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Reposted by Neil Renic
Jennifer Rooke @jenrooke.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
Engaging and insightful analysis: "The gross imbalance between the emphasis on perpetrators’ moral character, suffering, and interests, on the one hand, and the devastating moral and physical injuries suffered by the victims of war crimes, on the other, is typically erased by war crime apologia."
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
I wrote some articles this year that i'm proud of - on the themes of war, violence, and technology. Compiled below for your reading convenience:
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
“What if we made the most morally demented man in America President twice?”
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
The best thing about American culture war exporters is their literal inability to find places outside the U.S on a map
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
Morning
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Paid fellowship in awesome Hamburg in the field of ethics in international security. Fantastic opportunity for a PhD or new graduate - APPLY!
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Just finished - brilliant! A fantastic book, highlighting the powerful, and often dark, work done by terms such as “pre-history”, “civilisation”, and “barbarism” throughout history.
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Historians: “in this opening volume, I consider British cavalry innovation from 1817 (January) to 1817 (May)” Economists: “in this blog post, I explain human origins, progress, and decline”
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
The review process
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
For a small fee, I will unfairly attack your PhD online, increasing your readership in the resulting backlash
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Reposted by Neil Renic
Review of International Studies @risjnl.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
🚨New First View Article🚨 "Dirty hands, savage enemies, and bad apples: A taxonomy of war crimes apologia" by Christopher Elliott, @ncrenic.bsky.social & Jessica Wolfendale is now available #OpenAccess! Check it out here 📄 ➡️ buff.ly/i8OUoL1
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
Methodology
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
From mid-November on, before you send an email ask yourself if this is really a 2025 problem
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
'The logic of algorithms tends to repeat what "works," but art opens up what is possible' - Pope Leo
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
🚨 My article, with Jessica Wolfendale and Chris Elliott, is now available (open access) with @risjnl.bsky.social. We systematically detail and critique war crime apologism - efforts to excuse, downplay, or even celebrate battlefield atrocity. Give it a read! cup.org/49gmlUi
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
Enjoying this immensely, especially Cherniss's plea to resist the embrace of cruelty and ruthlessness in politics. "Many political evils, of course, stem from garden variety villainy – ambition, venality, the appetite for domination or longing for submission. But..."
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Jessica Wolfendale @jessicawolfendale.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
How do states keep getting away with war crimes? Check out my new paper with @ncrenic.bsky.social and Christopher Elliot on apologist narratives for war crimes - and it's open access! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
Dirty hands, savage enemies, and bad apples: A taxonomy of war crimes apologia | Review of International Studies | Cambridge Core
Dirty hands, savage enemies, and bad apples: A taxonomy of war crimes apologia
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Australia is stunning
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Bryan Based International Order 🇨🇦 @bryanpeeler.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
More reading to do!
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
🚨 My article, with Jessica Wolfendale and Chris Elliott, is now available (open access) with @risjnl.bsky.social. We systematically detail and critique war crime apologism - efforts to excuse, downplay, or even celebrate battlefield atrocity. Give it a read! cup.org/49gmlUi
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Maybe we can agree that whatever else it does, ChatGPT shouldn’t be telling people who are about to kill themselves, “awesome idea!!!”
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
New arrivals
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
🚨 Delighted to share that I’ve just signed with Oxford University Press to write my next book: looking at how ideas about Western civilisation shape (and are shaped by) the design and use of military technology.
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
Chris Elliot and I argue that it’s past time for the Australian War Memorial to update its Ben Roberts-Smith exhibits to give a full, unvarnished accounting of his crimes and their impact on victims. www.abc.net.au/religion/aus...
abc.net.au
How should the War Memorial acknowledge Ben Roberts-Smith’s alleged war crimes? - ABC Religion & Ethics
Ben Roberts-Smith has asked three courts to test allegations about his conduct in Afghanistan — it is now appropriate for the Australian War Memorial to change his exhibits to reflect the details of t...
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
Trump: “DEATH TO MY ENEMIES” New York Times: “questions raised over Trump’s commitment to national unity”
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
Merimbula, NSW
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
11/10 graffiti
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Disastrous
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
you should be able to take off work because your book is getting to the good part
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
"The termination is the first known case of a US technology company withdrawing services provided to the Israeli military since the beginning of its war on Gaza." www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
theguardian.com
Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of its technology in mass surveillance of Palestinians
Exclusive: Tech firm ends military unit’s access to AI and data services after Guardian reveals secret spy project
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
No wonder Musk is impressed, the London march stretched all the way to the Arc de Triomphe
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
Sunday sunrise
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
Bleak
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Reposted by Neil Renic
Nicholas Marsh @nicholasmarsh.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Effects of the Ukraine War, including the 2025 EU White Paper on European Defence, have transformed the political economy of European defence production are examined in a new @jei-publication.bsky.social article written with @brunoomartins.bsky.social and @jocelynmawdsley.bsky.social
Article title: The European Iron Network: the remaking of the political economy of European defence production following the Ukraine War
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