The very idea there is such a thing as the internet is an invention of science fiction. When William Gibson coined the term cyberspace in 1984 in the book Neuromancer, he described it as “a consensual hallucination." In this Unscripted interview, Senior Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies at the School of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Queensland Sebastian Kaempf explains why it is important not to think of the internet as a special kind of magic. Kaempf's general expertise lies in the areas of international security, the transformation of violent conflict, ethics and the laws of war, and the role a transforming global media landscape plays in contemporary conflicts.
Kaempf is the author of ‘Saving Soldiers or Civilians? Casualty-aversion versus Civilian Protection in Asymmetric Conflicts’ (Cambridge University Press, 2018)