Work by a University of Exeter legal expert will help to bring clarity to the laws around armed conflict in space and cyberspace to promote peace and security.
Dr Chris O'Meara has been awarded a British Academy Global Innovation Fellowship based at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C.
During the Fellowship, Dr O'Meara will focus on matters of security and defence, including cyber security and the governance of outer space. He will help to develop policy recommendations and influence decision-making in these areas.
Dr O'Meara's work at Carnegie will be based on his research on how international law can provide normative clarity and legal accountability in the cyber context and in outer space, helping to promote predictability, avoid escalatory responses, protect civilians, and enhance state security.
The work will fill a critical gap by providing policy responses for how states may lawfully act in the face of rapid technological developments, including in self-defence in space and in cyberspace.
Carnegie's overarching mission is to advance peaceful cooperation among nations. It is a leading global think tank with a strong record in bridging scholarship, policy, and practice across multiple regions.
promoting compliance with international law and ensuring that it continues to serve as a cornerstone of global stability, on Earth and in space.
The research will help states to clarify an understanding of the law and its limitations on using new technologies, such as anti-satellite weapons, leading to concrete policy action to protect space for peaceful purposes.
Dr O'Meara is an expert in international law as it applies to armed conflict, defence and security, especially regulating and minimizing warfare and maintaining peace via the strengthening of the rules-based international order.
Dr O'Meara said: "At this time of increased global volatility, there is urgent need for states and international organizations to recommit to the post-1945 settlement based on the UN Charter and its outlawing of war and its requirement of peaceful, rules-based, dispute settlement. The work will help to bridge the gap between law and practice and support lawyers, policy advisers, and decision-makers."
"This work will show how international law can remain both credible and effective in managing conflict in domains characterized by technical complexity and legal ambiguity."
On the cyber aspects of his work, Dr O'Meara said: "States and international organizations are increasingly expressing their views on international law's regulation of cyber operations, including by setting out public positions and making other official statements that contribute to a better understanding of the law. However most are yet to engage with this process. The lack of determinacy of legal rules leaves states greater leeway to use force, with potential negative consequences for other states and actors that might be affected by defensive cyber responses.
"My hope is that additional focus by decision-makers on laws and norms in the cyber context will help to promote predictability, avoid escalatory responses, protect civilians, and ultimately enhance state cyber security."
On issues of space governance and the prospect of conflict in space, Dr O'Meara said: "There is unease about states testing and using anti-satellite weapons, which are designed to disrupt, degrade, or destroy satellites, and the fear of resulting enduring orbital space debris that threatens all users of space.
