Armed conflicts and wars are crises. As many in Germany have seen in recent years, especially after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a significant part of combat and the debate around it is technology. In general, defense technology and technology in war, in combination with strategy and the use of people, enables the fulfillment of military objectives, and with this talk CNTR researcher Liska Suckau aims to start a conversation about defense technology and its implications.

This is not intended to be an anti-weapons lecture, but to contribute to an honest discussion about ambiguity, compromise, idealism and responsibility, also in the context of the debate around the civilian clause. Technology and its development are not neutral, but are shaped by the society in which they are developed. In Liska Suckau's personal experience, however, these influences and the maturity of engineers are rarely discussed, especially in technical training courses. During the lecture, she will therefore address these difficult topics and give a brief insight into her research as a mechanical engineer and political scientist at the Peace Research Institute PRIF.

Part of her research is the evaluation and documentation of trends in defense technology for arms control, a field that is often very male-dominated and has unfortunately been in crisis for several years. What does technology have to do with this and how can technology help and where are the women?

The entire preliminary program of the multi-day annual conference can be found on the website of the German Association of Women Engineers. 

The event will be held in German.