Contesting Use of Force Norms Through Technological Practices

Abstract

International law on the use of force has become increasingly contested. Such contestation also happens in the form of technologically-mediated state practices, for example via designing and using drones or weapon systems integrating autonomous or Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies. Over time, such practices can deliberatively and tacitly shape new norms. To make sense of such dynamics, the article differentiates between an international normative order and an international legal order and theorises how their congruence/incongruence affects (social and legal) norms governing the use of force. These arguments combine norm research with scholarship across critical international law, practice theories, and science and technology studies to examine the emergence of contested areas in between the international normative and legal orders. The paper examines the practice of targeted killing in the context of jus contra bellum and the emerging norm of ‘meaningful’ human control in jus in bello. These examples demonstrate the emergence of significant areas of contestation in between the international normative and legal orders – and the adverse consequences of this development for the restraining quality of international law.