The Implications of Emerging Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems for International Peace and Security

This policy brief speaks to the military effects of lethal autonomous weapons systems raised in the GGE chairperson’s food-for-thought paper (CCW/GGE1/2017/WP1). In particular, it addresses the following questions: Could the potential deployment of LAWS lower the threshold of use of force? Could it enhance asymmetric deployment of force or covert use of force?

The brief provides answers to these questions in two steps. First, it argues that international legal regulations governing the use of force, centred around the general prohibition of the use-of force, have played a significant role in maintaining international peace and security in the UN-Charter era. This role is based both on states’ shared sense of being bound by these rules and the certainty of expectations they thus provide. Second, the development of LAWS threatens this certainty of expectations because they are likely to introduce more “grey areas” in how states interpret international law.