Emerging Technologies

Dr. Niklas Schörnig has been a senior research fellow with the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF), Germany, since 2005. Prior to joining PRIF as a research fellow, Dr. Schörnig was a Ph.D. candidate at PRIF and wrote his dissertation on American defense industrial policy during the 1990s. He received his Ph.D. (summa cum laude) from Goethe-University, Frankfurt, in 2005. Since 2005 he has been a regular visiting lecturer at Goethe-University, Frankfurt. In 2012 he received the “Best Article Award 2006-2011” of the German Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen (Journal of International Relations).

His current research at PRIF focuses, inter alia, on current trends in warfare, military robotics, military missions of Western democracies and Australian foreign and security policy. His most recent publications include inter alia: “Killer Drones – The Silver Bullet of Democratic Warfare?” In: Security Dialogue, 2012, 43: 4, 353-370 (with Frank Sauer); “The Militant Face of Democracy. Liberal Forces for Good“, Cambridge University Press, 2013 (Editor, with Anna Geis and Harald Müller); and „Automatisierte Kriegsführung – Wie viel Entscheidungsraum bleibt dem Menschen?“ [Automated Warfare – what is left for the human to decide?] In: Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte, 2014: 35-37, 27-34.

PD Dr. Frank Sauer is the Head of Research at the Metis Institute for Strategy and Foresight as well as a Senior Research Fellow at the Bundeswehr University Munich. The main foci of his research are nuclear issues and emerging technologies. He is the author of „Atomic Anxiety: Deterrence, Taboo and the Non-Use of U.S. Nuclear Weapons” and various articles in journals like Survival, Security Dialogue, Contemporary Security Policy, and the International Review of the Red Cross. Frank also serves on various expert panels in an advisory role for governments, civil society, and industry. He co-hosts the multiple-award-winning German language podcast "Sicherheitshalber" on all things security and defense. You can follow Frank on X @drfranksauer.