WarPod #14 Drone Tech w/ Ingvild Bode

In this episode of the WarPod, we sit down with Susan Park (University of Sydney) and Martin Lemberg-Pedersen (University of Southern Denmark) for a conversation between scholars on the dilemmas of decarbonization and critical mineral extraction. The episode explores how the urgency of the energy transition intersects with security concerns, supply chains, and social justice.

In this episode of the WarPod, journalist Arthur Holland Michel discusses his new essay, "Autonomous Refusal in Lethal Weapons", with Oscar Noach. Arthur's essay explores the capacity of computational systems to decline commands - "refusal" - within the context of autonomous weapons and other artificial intelligence (AI)- enabled military systems. Read the essay here: https://www.sdu.dk/en/forskning/forskningsenheder/samf/cws/cws-activities/2026/autonomous-refusal-in-lethal-weapns The essay is published in collaboration with the European Research Council (ERC)-funded and CWS-hosted project “Weaponised Artificial Intelligence, Norms and Order”(AutoNorms). Cover photo by SrA Matt Porter, identified by DVIDS. The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoW) visual information does not imply or constitute DoW endorsement Music by Dvir Silver from Pixabay

In this episode, Oscar Noach sits down with Dr. Danita Burke, senior fellow at the CWS, to explore her research project entitled "Seals, Stigma, and Survival", funded by the Nordic Arctic Programme. Danita takes us deep into the complex history of anti-sealing activism, its cultural and economic impacts on Arctic and sub-Arctic communities, and the enduring legacies of environmental and animal rights movements. We discuss how organisations like Greenpeace, IFAW, and Sea Shepherd shaped public perceptions of seal hunting, the tensions between activism and indigenous rights, and why the EU’s current seal product regulations remain controversial. Danita also shares fascinating case studies, including Greenpeace’s apology to Inuit communities and its evolving role in the circumpolar North. Danita's book "Greenpeace in the Circumpolar North: Lessons Learned from the Anti-Sealing Era" was published by Routledge in 2025. Correction note for 37:19 - the EU public consultation on its sealing regulations occured in 2024, not 2014. Illustration: Galyna Andrushko via Colourbox.com. Music by Dvir Silver from Pixabay.

In this episode of the WarPod, Anne Ingemann Johansen, assistant professor at the University of Southern Denmark and fellow at the Center for War Studies, discusses with host Oscar Noach how NATO and the EU are grappling with the growing threat of militarized drones and the complexities of grey zone warfare. From the promise of a European “drone shield” to the political, technological, and strategic hurdles ahead, we unpack why Europe is still playing catch-up. Illustration: Juan Pablo Gonzalez Muñoz on Colourbox.com Music: Music by Dvir Silver from Pixabay

In this episode of the WarPod, Professor of International Politics and CWS Director Ingvild Bode expands on what we know about the drones spotted over Danish military installations, recent trends in drone technology, the integration of AI, and the continuing issue of governance gaps in these areas. Picture: Elise Racine / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Music by Dvir Silver from Pixabay

In this episode of the WarPod, André Ken Jakobsson discusses recent events in Denmark and other European states that have been seen as part of an escalation of hybrid threats against Europe. The discussion centers around drone incursions over major Danish airports and military installations, the concept and tactics of hybrid warfare, and how to respond to those. André Ken Jakobsson is Associate Professor at the University of Southern Denmark and Fellow at the Center for War Studies. He is also the head of the professional Master in Intelligence and Cyber Security at the University of Southern Denmark and the Danish Defence Academy. Oscar Noach is a PhD Candidate at the University of Southern Denmark and a Fellow at the Center for War Studies. Music by Dvir Silver from Pixabay Photo Credit: #294349, ColourBox.com

In this episode, Anna Vlasiuk Nibe, Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science and Fellow at the Center for War Studies, unpacks the EU’s evolving role as a geoeconomic actor. Anna shares insights from her research on how the EU is reshaping its investment policy regime in response to global power shifts and rising security concerns. Music by Dvir Silver from Pixabay Photo credit: Roman Malanchuk, Colourbox.com

Can thinking about Ukraine as an attempted buffer state since the Cold War nuance how we understand the domestic roots of Russia’s war? In this episode, our colleague at the Center for War Studies Anne Ingemann Johansen: • Shares new research on Ukraine’s post-independence history, based in part on newly uncovered material • Explains how difficult internal Ukrainian politics and institutional weakness transformed a difficult balancing act as a buffer State into an explosive geopolitical arrangement. • Argues that buffer states aren’t just passive zones — they actively shape great power competition This episode draws on Anne’s work in the DFF-funded project Mind the Gap: Security Scholarship between Academia and Policy, 1978–2024. Music by Dvir Silver from Pixabay Photo: Colourbox

The WarPod speaks with Anna Nadibaidze (Postdoc at the Center for War Studies) about Responsible AI in the military domain. Anna explains the concept of Responsible AI, highlights critiques, and looks to the future of AI regulation in the military domain as well as her own research. This episode is based on ongoing postdoctoral work that Anna is undertaking as part of HuMach, a project which investigates the distributed agency of human and machines in military applications of AI. The project is funded by The Independent Research Fund Denmark and hosted by the University of Southern Denmark and CWS. Photo credit: Hanna Barakat & Archival Images of AI + AIxDESIGN / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Music by Dvir Silver from Pixabay

The WarPod speaks to Chiara De Franco (Associate Professor at the CWS and Principal Investigator of the PROTEX project), Qiaochu Zhang (Postdoctoral Researcher at the CWS), and Oscar Noach (PhD Fellow at the CWS) about the future of human protection in international relations. This episode is based on discussions held at the conference "The Future of Human Protection" held in Copenhagen in January 2025. The episode also features recorded remarks by three of the conference speakers: Carina Lamont (Swedish Defence University), Rikke Ishøy (Danish Red Cross) and Alexander Borum (EUISS). Photo credit: Getty Images Music by Dvir Silver from Pixabay