Neil Renic

🚨 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...

🚨 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...

2024: "I'm voting for Trump to lower the cost of eggs"

2026: "your son died a hero in the Greenlandic liberation wars"

I miss the evil billionaires who'd try to buy their way into heaven by funding massive public libraries

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.

Academics are far too relaxed about writing for two years and having three people read it

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."

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...

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...

"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/...

"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

"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

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:

“What if we made the most morally demented man in America President twice?”

The best thing about American culture war exporters is their literal inability to find places outside the U.S on a map

Morning

Paid fellowship in awesome Hamburg in the field of ethics in international security. Fantastic opportunity for a PhD or new graduate - APPLY!

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.

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”

The review process

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

🚨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

Methodology

From mid-November on, before you send an email ask yourself if this is really a 2025 problem

'The logic of algorithms tends to repeat what "works," but art opens up what is possible' - Pope Leo

🚨 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

"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"

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

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..."

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...

Australia is stunning