Skip to 0 minutes and 11 seconds What do the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, the drone strike on Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen, and the activities of firms like Blackwater in Iraq have in common? They are all examples of the growing global trend towards the use by states of drones, private military companies and special operations units to conduct tasks traditionally performed by conventional armed forces, a phenomena marking a shift from state control to remote control warfare. I am Dr Wali Aslam. And I’m Dr David Moon.
Skip to 0 minutes and 48 seconds On this exciting new MOOC from the University of Bath, we’re going to be investigating how a mixture of technological development and increased privatisation of security and politicians’ increasing sensitivity to risk have all combined to bring about a shift from state control to remote control warfare. Drawing upon examples from around the globe, participants will gain an understanding of the numerous questions that warfare raises or how the State carries out security duties and its capacity for oversight.
Skip to 1 minute and 21 seconds And we ask, does the use of private military companies simply represent good use of state resources, or does it enable states to carry out illegal and sometimes unethical action in which they would otherwise not engage? These are only a few of the big questions that we will be seeking to shed light upon on this course. So join us as we grapple with the new and seek to identify the future on From State Control to Remote
Skip to 1 minute and 50 seconds Control: Warfare in the 21st Century.