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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

🚨The Australian Army Research Centre series on Safety, Legal, and Ethical Implications of Military Artificial Intelligence is now out. Edited by @zenaassaad.bsky.social, @jessicadorsey.bsky.social, and myself - fantastic articles, all open-access. researchcentre.army.gov.au/library/coll...

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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

The thrill of using a word in conversation when you’re only 60% sure what it means

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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

When I tell people I research and teach military ethics, the response I often receive is "that's an oxymoron, isn't it". I reflect on the importance of teaching ethics to militaries, and outline some concerns, in a new essay. www.ethicsandinternationalaffairs.org/online-exclu...

ethicsandinternationalaffairs.org

The Ethics of Military Ethics: Teaching Right and Wrong to People Trained to Kill

Military ethics education today must contend with the potential negative effects of the increasing prioritization of speed and optimization in war, and the ways in which this sidelines the experience ...

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Dr Zena Assaad @zenaassaad.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

New #ResponsibleBytesPodcast episode is out now. Featuring @ncrenic.bsky.social chatting about the ethics of war. 🎧 Listen anywhere you get your podcasts. 📹 Full video is also up on our YouTube channel.

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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

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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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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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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

For ABC News, Chris Elliot and I argued that it’s past time for the Australian War Memorial to update its Ben Robert’s-Smith exhibits to give a full, unvarnished accounting of his battlefield crimes and their impact on victims. www.abc.net.au/religion/aus...

abc.net.au

How should the War Memorial respond to the High Court’s decision? - ABC Religion & Ethics

Ben Roberts-Smith has asked three courts to test allegations about his conduct in Afghanistan — the Australian War Memorial needs to change his exhibits to reflect the details of the alleged atrocitie...

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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

"On the Pitfalls of Technophilic Reason: A Commentary on Kevin Jon Heller’s “The Concept of ‘the Human’ in the Critique of Autonomous Weapons”, with @elkeschwarz.bsky.social. journals.law.harvard.edu/nsj/2025/05/...

journals.law.harvard.edu

On the Pitfalls of Technophilic Reason: A Commentary on Kevin Jon Heller’s “The Concept of ‘the Human’ in the Critique of Autonomous Weapons” – Harvard National Security Journal

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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

"A Matter of Time: The Role of Timing in Regulating Military Weapons”, with International Affairs. Drawing on historical cases, we detail the frequently overlooked value of acting early to control emerging military technologies. t.co/UPYE4Mr27M

t.co

https://academic.oup.com/ia/article/101/3/1023/8100242

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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

"Dirty Hands, Savage Enemies, and Bad Apples", with @risjnl.bsky.social. We systematically detailed and critiqued war crime apologism - efforts to excuse, downplay, or even celebrate battlefield atrocity. t.co/bl2kAqifBY

t.co

https://cup.org/49gmlUi

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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 · 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

For a small fee, I will unfairly attack your PhD online, increasing your readership in the resulting backlash

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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 · 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

"Liberals do not, like conservatives, stand athwart history shouting “stop”. At their best, they stand between vulnerable individuals and the predations of power, and insist on limits"

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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

"...righteous ruthlessness is particularly troubling, insofar as it can transform apparent virtues into terrible vices."

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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 · 12/11/2025

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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 · 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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