About the talk:

Soldier enhancement represents one of the main new military technological developments. Indeed, for several years now, some nations seem to have embarked on the development of the “super soldier”. From simple exoskeleton and drugs, to cognitive science and genetic engineering, contemporary technoscientific advances now make it possible to have a soldier with enhanced physical and psycho-cerebral capacities. While soldier enhancement offers many advantages, it also raises many issues, especially on the ethical level. This is why it is so difficult to address the issue of the “super soldier”. This presentation aims to explore some of the main advantages and concerns regarding the ethics of war that arise with soldier enhancement, especially for democratic countries. The goal is to show that the mixture of benefits and limits makes this phenomenon a complex issue which needs to be seriously addressed moving forward.

About the speaker:

Pierre Bourgois is an associate professor in political science at the Catholic University of the West (Angers, France). He is also an associate researcher at the Institute for Strategic Research (IRSEM) in Paris, the Montesquieu Research Institute (IRM) of the University of Bordeaux and the Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies (CGPACS) of the University of California, Irvine. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Bordeaux (France). His research focuses on international relations, political theory and strategic studies. More specifically, his work can be divided into two topics : Neoconservatism and U.S. foreign policy on the one hand, Soldier enhancement and Ethics of war on the other hand. He is the author of American Neoconservatism: Democracy as a banner (Le néoconservatisme américain. La démocratie pour étendard, Paris, PUF, 2023), and his research appears in several edited volumes and academic journal.