Course Syllabus

Course Description

The world is changing. War is changing. We are entering an age of warfighting that has so far only been considered in science fiction.  This course examines how emerging technologies like AI, robotics, and drones are transforming warfare, focusing on their impact on traditional battlefields and new domains such as space and cyberspace. Students will explore future scenarios of warfare through theoretical frameworks and foresight exercises, analyzing how these technologies shape both military strategy and global security politics. 

On the battlefields in Ukraine and the Middle East, new technologies such as drones and AI are reportedly turning the tide, and the world order is trembling from the fierce competition between the US and China on critical technology areas such as AI, robotics and space. In short, we are entering an age of warfighting that has so far only been considered in science fiction.

All of this begs the question: What happens after Ukraine and Gaza? How do we envision the next war? Which technological developments will determine victory? And how can we grasp and imagine the uncertainties of future security politics and warfighting? To this end, the course equips students with theoretical tools necessary for understanding the impact of new technologies on warfare and military affairs from a socio-technical perspective. Using this framework, we will explore the use and importance of new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, robotics, drones and quantum computing across both traditional battlefields, such as those in Ukraine and Gaza, and new domains such as space, sea beds and cyberspace. Finally, students will be asked to use their acquired knowledge and analytical skills to craft their own “future imaginaries” of warfare through scenario-building exercises that utilize various techniques and methods of foresight.

Approaching the future of warfare as an emergent, socio-technical phenomenon, and inviting students to participate in the speculative production of the wars of tomorrow, the course has a double aim. First, to explore the future imaginaries that figure prominently across military and political thinking about warfare; and second, to enable students to critically interrogate how these imaginaries produce very real politics by shaping the present.

Contents, themes and concepts that will be explored during the course include:

• Surveillance capitalism and infrastructural power
• AI decision-support and human-machine-teaming (e.g. Palantir)
• Bio/neuro technology as human enhancement (e.g. Neurolink)
• Space technologies and satellite wars (e.g. Starlink)
• Drones, robotics and autonomy
• Useful Fiction and/as foresight
• Sociotechnical- and future imaginaries
• Technological determinism and western-centric biases in imagining the future

Lecture plan and readings

The course consists of three sections. The first section introduces the students to the overall aim of the course, and presents the conceptual and theoretical tools that will be utilized throughout the course to explore the technological future(s) of warfare. The second section combines lectures and field trips to facilitate a detailed exploration of a number of technologies, which are widely considered as having the potential to transform (future) war, including AI, quantum and space. The last and final section allows the students to bring together and apply the knowledge, skills and insights gathered throughout the course in a foresight exercise, where the students will utilize creative writing and scenario building methods to imagine the future of warfare and present their visions to their colleagues.

Section 1: Introduction and framework

Lecture 1 - Introduction

20 August (DMØ + AG)

Readings:

• Borchert et. al. 2021. Kap. 1-3 i “Beware the Hype. What Military Conflicts in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, and Nagorno-Karabakh (Don’t) Tell Us About the Future of War”, Pp. 6-17. Defense AI Observatory. https://defenseai.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/DAIO_Beware_the_Hype.pdf 
• James Der Derian (2001). “Virtuous War”. Routledge.  (prologue)
• Lawrence Freedman (2017), The future of war. A history. Penguin Books (introduction)
• NATO: From Foresight to Warfight (video). (NATO Defence College)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUeOJ5pMHiQ

Slides

DIS The Future(s) of Warfare INTRO.pptx

 

Field Trip: Danish War Museum 

26 August (AG)

No readings for the field trip

 

Lecture 2: Human-machine interfaces: The co-production of technology and war

27 august (DMØ)

Readings:

• Sheila Jasanoff (2004). “States of knowledge: The co-production of science and social order”. Routledge (Introduction) - available here: Jasanoff3_coproduction.pdf
• Antoine Bousquet (2008) Chaoplexic warfare or the future of military organization, International Affairs, Volume 84, Issue 5, September 2008, Pages 915–929, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2346.2008.00746.x
• Langdon Winner (1980) “Do Artifacts Have Politics?” Daedalus 109, no. 1, 121–36. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20024652 
• Robert Rosenberger (2017). On the hermeneutics of everyday things: or, the philosophy of fire hydrants. AI & Society, 32, 233–241, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-016-0674-3 

Slides

DIS Human-machine interfaces.pptx

 

Lecture 3: Future imaginaries: How visions of the future shape the present

17 September (DMØ)

Readings:

• Sheila Jasanoff and S.H. Kim (2009): Containing the Atom: Sociotechnical Imaginaries and Nuclear Power in the United States and South Korea. Minerva 47, 119–146, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-009-9124-4 
• Astrid Mager & Christian Katzenbach (2021): “Future imaginaries in the making and governing of digital technology: Multiple, contested, commodified”, New Media & Society, Vol. 23(2) 223–236, https://doi/10.1177/1461444820929321 
• Daniel Møller Ølgaard & Elsa Hedling (2026): ”Navigating technological change: Future imaginaries and everyday practices in world politics”, Cooperation and Conflict, https://doi.org/10.1177/00108367251397
• van der Maarel, S., Verweij, D., Kramer, E.-H., & Molendijk, T. (2025). “This Is Not What I Signed up for”: Sociotechnical Imaginaries, Expectations, and Disillusionment in a Dutch Military Innovation Hub. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 50(4), 857-878, 
  https://doi.org/10.1177/01622439231211032

 

Section 2: Empirical explorations

Lecture 4: The rise (and death) of killer robots: AI, drones and robotics 

24. September (AG)

Readings:

• Elke Schwarz: Death Machines (Chapter 7: ”Prescription Drones”) 
• Antoine Bousquet: The Scientific Way of Warfare (Conclusion: An Autonomous S(war)m Machine.
• Tom FA Watts and Ingvild Bode (2024): Machine guardians: The Terminator, AI narratives and US regulatory discourse on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Cooperation and Conflict 59(1).

• Michael Horowitz: "A New Age of Warfare?", Council of Foreign Affairs February 2026 (podcast).

Supplementary reading

• Andreas Graae (2020): “Swarming Sensations: Robo-bees and the Politics of the Swarm in Black Mirror”, The Senses and Society, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 229-243.

Lecture 5: War beyond human control? AI, software, and military decision-making

1 October (DMØ)

Readings:

• Avi Goldfarb and Jon R. Lindsay, "Prediction and Judgment: Why Artificial Intelligence Increases the Importance of Humans in War,"International Security, Vol. 46, No. 3 (Winter 2021/22), pp. 7–50, https://doi.org/10.1162/isec_a_00425.
• Johnson, J. (2022). The AI Commander Problem: Ethical, Political, and Psychological Dilemmas of Human-Machine Interactions in AI-enabled Warfare. Journal of Military Ethics, 21(3–4), 246–271. https://doi.org/10.1080/15027570.2023.2175887
• Lena Trabucco and Esben Salling Larsen: “AI in Command and Control” CMS report (Abstract and recommendations + Introduction)

Supplementary reading (not mandatory):

• Hunter, C., & Bowen, B. E. (2024). We’ll never have a model of an AI major-general: Artificial Intelligence, command decisions, and kitsch visions of war. Journal of Strategic Studies, 47(1), 116–146. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402390.2023.2241648
• Nadibaidze, A., Bode, I., & Zhang, Q. (2024). AI in Military Decision Support Systems: A Review of Developments and Debates. Center for War Studies

 

Lecture 6: A new quantum leap? War between quantum technology and quantum diplomacy

15 October (DMØ + guest lecturer)

• NATO Science & Technology Organization (2023): Appendix I: "Quantum Technologies" i “Science & Technology Trends 2023-2043 - Vol. 2: Analysis”, pp. 149-164
• Michael Krelina: “An introduction to military quantum technology for policy makers” SIPRI report
• https://www.csis.org/analysis/quantum-sensing-and-future-warfare-five-essential-reforms-stay-competitive
• Summary of NATO Quantum strategy: https://www.nato.int/en/about-us/official-texts-and-resources/official-texts/2024/01/16/summary-of-natos-quantum-technologies-strategy

 

Field Trip: Niels Bohr Institute 

21 October (DMØ)

No readings

 

Lecture 7: Cyborg soldiers: Biotechnology, neuro science and human enhancement

22 October (AG)

Readings:

• Haraway, Donna, (1991): A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Femi- nism in the Late Twentieth Century. Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature, Routledge, New York, 149-181.
• Nick Halper (2020): ”Brain Computer Interfaces: The reciprocal role of science fiction and reality”, Medium. June 2020. https://medium.com/swlh/brain-computer-interfaces-the-essential-role-of-science-fiction-a471e4420968
• NATO STO (2023): Science & Technology Trends 2023-2043. Volume 2. ”Biotechnology & Human Enhancement”
• Podcast: Hard Fork (New York Times). “Neuralink’s First Patient Opens Up.” Noland Arbaugh. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/24/podcasts/scarjo-vs-chatgpt-neuralinks-first-patient-opens-up-and-microsofts-ai-pcs.html

 

Optional:

• Andy Clark (2003): Natural-Born Cyborgs. Oxford University Press. Chapter 1: ”Cyborgs Unplugged”
• Video/podcast: DARPA: "Voices from DARPA" Podcast, Episode 60: The Neuroethicist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzkqMtHZCJg

 

 

Lecture 8: Star wars: Space as a new battlefield

29 October (AG + Guest Lecturer)

• Vince Houghton (2020). Nuking the Moon. And Other Intelligence Schemes And Military Plots Best Left On The Drawing Board, Profile Books. Chapter 21: Project A119.
• Bleddyn Bowen (2020): War in Space, Edinburgh University Press. Chapter 1: ”Spacepower, Impire & Theory”
• Tjalve, V. S. (2024). Corporate cosmos: How commercial American space imagines our future and shapes our present. Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS). DIIS Report Vol. 2024 No. 1. https://www.diis.dk/en/research/corporate-cosmos. ”Introduction” (pp. 4-12)
  

Further reading (not manedatory):

• Everett Dolman: Astropolitik (selected chapter)

 

Section 3: Imagining the future(s) of warfare

Lecture 9: Fiction and foresight: Speculative thinking, creative writing and scenario building

12 November (AG)

Readings:

• Ølgaard, D.M. & Graae, A.I.: “Useful Fiction as Worldmaking: Imaginaries of Future War and their Performative Politics”, Security Dialogue (forthcoming).
• Ursula K. Le Guin (1986): ”The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction”
• Eric Sangar (2025): How military forecasting projects can promote exceptionalist militarism: The French Red Team project and the securitization of the future, Security Dialogue, 56(3), 191–210.
• Wenzel Mehnert (2026): Who Writes the Future? Science Fiction and the Politics of Commodified Imaginaries. Hype 21-07-2026. https://hypestudies.org/blog/who-writes-the-future
  
  

Optional:

• Beatrice Heuser, Joachim Isacsson and Olaf Theiler (2025). ”Strategic Foresight and Future War: A Discussion of Methodologies”, in: Routledge Handbook of the Future of Warfare, Routledge, pp. 11-20.
• Strategic Foresight Analysis 2023. NATO ACT. 2023. (i uddrag: Executive Summary & Main Findings) pp. 4-14 (4 sider).

 

Workshop part I: Imagining the future(s) of warfare 

19. November (DMØ og AG)

Readings:

• Singer, P. W. & Cole, A. ”Thinking the Unthinkable with Useful Fiction.” 1-13.
• Salaün, J, Gaub, F, (et.al.). NATO 2099. NATO Defence College. 2024. (20 sider).

 

Workshop part II: Imagining the future(s) of warfare

3 December (DMØ og AG)

No readings.

 

Learning Objectives

The course equips students with theoretical tools necessary for understanding the impact of new technologies on warfare and military affairs from a socio-technical perspective. By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Analyze how emerging technologies such as AI, drones, robotics, space systems, and bio-neuro technologies reshape contemporary and future warfare, military organization, and strategic practice.
• Apply socio-technical and critical theoretical perspectives to examine the co-production of technology, military institutions, and security politics across different geopolitical contexts.
• Critically assess dominant future imaginaries of warfare and evaluate their political, ethical, and strategic consequences, including questions of power, accountability, ethics, and technological determinism.
• Develop and communicate original future scenarios of warfare using foresight methods, speculative thinking, and collaborative scenario-building, while reflecting on uncertainty, contingency, and complexity as central features of future conflict.

Faculty

Andreas Graae, PhD & Daniel Møller Ølgaard, PhD, Institute for Military Technology, Royal Danish Defence College

Format

The course combines lectures, seminars, group discussions, student-led presentations, field studies, and creative workshops. A strong emphasis is placed on active participation, collaborative learning, and hands-on exercises in scenario-building and speculative analysis.

Field Trips / Excursions

• The Danish War Museum – Explorations of military history and reflections on how the future soldier will look like.
• Niels Bohr Institute – Introduction to quantum research and its security implications.

Approach to Teaching

The course is structured as an interactive and dynamic learning space. Teaching combines short lectures with discussions, group work, practical exercises, and creative workshops. Students are continuously invited to experiment, question assumptions, and explore uncertainty.

A central pedagogical ambition is to engage students actively in the co-production of knowledge. Through foresight methods, speculative writing, and scenario-building exercises, students develop their own future imaginaries of warfare and conflict. This creates room for creativity, critical reflection, and intellectual risk-taking, while grounding discussions firmly in academic literature and empirical cases. The overall aim is to foster analytical depth, collaborative learning, and curiosity-driven exploration of the future.

Evaluation

Students are evaluated on their engagement with the course material, their active participation in discussions and workshops, and their ability to combine theoretical insight, empirical analysis, and creative thinking. Emphasis is placed on analytical clarity, originality, collaborative effort, and reflective depth.

Grading

The assessment of the students will be based on active participation across lectures, excursions and workshops, as well as a portfolio consisting of 5 assignments, four of which will be handed in during the course and one of which will be written as a final paper.

Assignment	Percent
Active Participation	20%
Group Presentation (two in total)	20%
Foresight scenario portfolio	20%
Written final assignment	40%

DIS Accommodations Statement 

Your learning experience in this class is important to me.  If you have approved academic accommodations with DIS, please make sure I receive your DIS accommodations letter within two weeks from the start of classes. If you can think of other ways I can support your learning, please don't hesitate to talk to me. If you have any further questions about your academic accommodations, contact Academic Support academicsupport@dis.dk

 

Academic Regulations 

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:

• Course Enrollment and Grading
• Academic Expectations and Honor Code

 

 

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