Center for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark

I Sverige sker der store udviklinger på efterretningsfeltet i kølvandet på den såkaldte Carl Bildt-rapport: ”En reformerad underrättelseverksamhet”, der udkom i 2025. Èt initiativ, som den nuværende svenske regering har søsat, er oprettelsen af en dedikeret civil udenrigstjeneste i stedet for en udelukkende militær udenrigstjeneste. Ifølge den svenske regering skal denne tjeneste imødegå det hybride trusselsbillede, og behovet for stærkere samarbejde mellem myndigheder. Derudover skal denne tjeneste styrke varsling særlig om politiske intentioner i forbindelse med fremtidige sikkerhedspolitiske hændelser. I denne artikel i Ingeniøren svarer Hedvig Ördén og jeg på spørgsmål om rationalet bag dette initiativ, om den hastighed, hvormed denne nye tjeneste ønskes implementeret, om mulige implikationer og om Danmark bør følge det svenske eksempel: https://lnkd.in/eje3ZN3Y I Carl Bildt-rapporten findes der desuden en række interessante pointer og forslag bl.a. til styrkelse af forsknings- og uddannelsesmiljøet omkring efterretningsstudier, som er værd at bemærke også i en Dansk og bredere nordisk kontekst. Master of Intelligence and Cyber Studies Center for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark Institut for Statskundskab, SDU

Last week our colleagues Anne Ingemann Johansen and Sten Rynning did exciting fieldwork along the border between #Russia and #Norway 👇🏻

CWS in Åland 🇦🇽 Our colleagues Chiara De Franco, Anna Nadibaidze, and Signe Winter Lindbjerg attended the symposium "Nordic International Relations in Times of Global Ruptures" in Mariehamn, Åland. The symposium, organised by the Nordic International Studies Association, brought together scholars to reflect on IR research in the Nordic countries, facilitate knowledge exchange, and give early career researchers the opportunity to present their ongoing work.

Check out our colleague Anne Ingemann Johansen’s new article on #Ukraine in International Affairs 👏🏻

📣 Emerging Scholars on Emerging Technologies in International Security: Part 2 Our colleagues Anna Nadibaidze and Dr Ingvild Bode edited a special section published in Global Policy: Next Generation volume 7 (Global Policy Journal at Durham University). It features the following articles: 📌 "Governance of AI and by AI: Feedback Loops, Regime Variation and Reflexive Polycentric Control" by Jan Kleiner Ph.D. 📌 "Cruising Together: How the Europeans Tipped the Scales for the Ground-Launched Cruise Missile" by Tim Thies The two articles join the first part of the special section published in 2025, with articles by Qiaochu Zhang, Jonathan Kwik, Bibi Imre-Millei, Daniel Møller Ølgaard and Anna Nadibaidze. Both parts are based on research presented at an early career workshop on emerging technologies in international security held in Copenhagen in November 2024. The workshop's organisation was supported by a Carlsberg Foundation conference grant.

What role can diplomacy play in managing the competitive dynamics and cooperative potentials between the US and China on governing AI in and beyond the military domain?   In this guest blog at @AutoNorms, I argue that whereas great power diplomacy such as the Trump-Xi 2026 Summit can play a pivotal role in setting strategic directions for key issues at the table, advancing effective US-China AI governance would require looking beyond great power diplomacy as well as leading state actors and tech giants at the highest level.   On the one hand, high-level, formal diplomacy and technical, informal exchanges can complement one another. On the other, state actors, tech giants, and other non-state actors, especially scientists, play equivalent important yet distinct roles in advancing US-China governance.    I addressed three key questions in the blog: ▪️Why does the Trump-Xi 2026 Summit bear strategic implications for AI, chips, and military affairs? ▪️What lessons could be learned from past and ongoing developments in US-China diplomatic relations and AI governance? ▪️How can the US and China find a path where competition co-exists with cooperation on governing AI in and beyond the military domain?   Full blog post accessible here: https://lnkd.in/espfNHBx   Thank you Professor Ingvild Bode for the opportunity to contribute to AutoNorms as the project wraps up after six wonderful years. I’m grateful to Professor Ingvild Bode and Dr Anna Nadibaidze for their constructive feedback on the earlier drafts, to Future of Life Institute (FLI) for supporting my ongoing PhD research behind this piece, and to @AutoNorms Team, Center for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark for the learning opportunities. #US #China #AIGovernance #Diplomacy #USChinaRelations #AIChips #MilitaryAI

Since 2020 the CWS has been hosting the project "Weaponised AI, Norms, and Order" (AutoNorms), led by Dr Ingvild Bode and funded by the European Research Council (ERC). As the project enters its last month, its team members provide reflections and takeaways in a series of blog posts: 1️⃣ "Machine Guardians, Human Monsters, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Take the Terminator Franchise Seriously" by Tom F.A. Watts: https://lnkd.in/e2S3QCcK 2️⃣ "How Practices Make Norms: Key Analytical Take-Aways from the ERC AutoNorms Project" by Dr Ingvild Bode: https://lnkd.in/e4U36S7K 3️⃣ "Weaponised AI, Norms, and Order: Reflections from Research on China" by Guangyu Qiao-Franco and Qiaochu Zhang: https://lnkd.in/ezbeWMC8 4️⃣ "Reflections on the Weaponised AI Policy Debate Throughout the ERC AutoNorms Project" by Anna Nadibaidze: https://lnkd.in/eJTrrqhu 🔗 Read more about AutoNorms: https://www.autonorms.eu/

Danmark vil afvise ophold under særloven for ukrainske mænd i alderen 23–60. Det samme gør sig gældende i EU, hvor der i Kommissionen i øjeblikket pågår en diskussion om at forlænge Temporary Protection-direktivet for ukrainske flygtninge, men samtidig ekskludere mænd i den “militære alder” fra ophold under denne ordning. Det har jeg talt med Jyllands-Posten om (link i kommentar). Jeg er skeptisk over for, om forslaget vil have den tilsigtede effekt, som må formodes at være at afholde mænd i den militære alder fra at forlade Ukraine. De vil stadig kunne søge ophold i form af A eller B status (som dog er væsentligt mere kompliceret). Derudover ser jeg en række potentielle problemer forbundet med forslaget i forhold til diskrimination, mænds rettigheder i krig samt det normative signal, Europa og Danmark ønsker at sende om mænds og kvinders sårbarheder og roller i krig. Jeg bider blandt andet mærke i, at det danske forslag nævner, at det skal “sikre, at særlovens regler anvendes til at yde støtte til de personer, der har størst behov (…)”. Indlejret i den formulering er en antagelse om, at mænd har mindre behov for beskyttelse i krig, hvilket ikke bakkes op af forskning på området. Europarådets menneskerettighedskommissær, Michael O’Flaherty, har også advaret mod at indskrænke beskyttelsen for ukrainere generelt og understreget, at bestemmelserne i direktivet må være i overensstemmelse med menneskerettighedsforpligtelserne. Frankrig er ifølge en artikel i Kyiv Post en af de stærkeste modstandere af at indskrænke direktivet, mens Ungarn lige har meldt ud, at de ikke vil nægte adgang for ukrainske mænd. Man kan med fordel også læse Anastasia Vekselis Christoffersen og min kronik i Dagbladet Information, hvor vi for et par måneder siden også diskuterede forslaget (link i kommentar).

As we enter the final month of the European Research Council (ERC)-funded AutoNorms project, it's time to look back at the past six years. In a series of blog posts on the AutoNorms website, members of the project team take the time to reflect on their main take-aways. My post draws attention to the project's core argument: practices make norms and what this means for #AI in the military domain and its normative consequences. This argument changes how we study norm emergence, shifting attention to how practices of developing, of training personnel for, and of using military systems integrating AI shape social norms that are often implicit, not necessarily written down, and typically not publicly discussed. Such practices have had a significant effect on shaping what constitutes the requisite quality of human control - typically not in intentional ways. Read the full text here: https://lnkd.in/e9hFiyQm Center for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark Danish Institute for Advanced Study (DIAS)

The Department of Political Science and Public Management is pleased to welcome Karen Lund Petersen as Professor of Intelligence in a 20% position. Through this appointment, the department further strengthens its research environment in intelligence and security studies and reinforces its ambition to connect academic research with practice and policy.   Karen brings together senior leadership experience from government and more than 20 years of academic research and teaching in intelligence and security studies. Before joining SDU, she served as Head of Analysis and Outreach at the Danish Security and Intelligence Service and before that as Professor MSO at the University of Copenhagen.   Her research focuses on intelligence, security risk management, organisational resilience, and the changing relationship between governments, businesses, and society in addressing today's complex security challenges. She has published extensively in these fields, including the book Corporate Risk and National Security Redefined and Translations of Security.   Karen has collaborated with researchers across SDU for many years and looks forward to strengthening these partnerships further.   "SDU has established a strong and ambitious research environment in intelligence and security studies. I'm excited to become part of that community and to contribute to developing research that addresses some of the most pressing security challenges facing Europe and the wider international community."   With extensive experience spanning academia and public service, Karen will contribute to both research excellence and the continued development of intelligence and security studies at SDU.