Associate Professor Sebastian Kaempf

Deputy Director, Rotary Peace Centre

Associate Professor

School of Political Science and International Studies

+61 7 336 57530

s.kaempf@uq.edu.au

Researcher biography

Sebastian Kaempf is an Associate Professor in Peace and Conflict Studies at the School of Political Science and International Studies.

His expertise lies at the intersection between International Relations and Peace and Conflict Studies, with specialization in the areas of international security, ethics and the laws of war, and information technology relating to global politics and violent conflict. Specifically, his research focuses on two areas:

The first concerns the relationship between ethics and the laws of war in the context of the transformation of violent conflict. Here, he is interested in the ways in which historic and contemporary wars - waged under conditions of asymmetry - have impacted on the relationship between the norms of casualty-aversion and civilian protection.

The second area focuses on the role a transforming global media landscape is playing in violent conflicts. Here, his research focuses on how historic and current conflicts are being waged in and through media and information technology, with a particular emphasis on the geopolitics of cyberspace, embedded news reporting, mass surveillance and big data mining, non-state armed groups, and the influence of the Pentagon and CIA in the entertainment sector.

Dr Kaempf received his PhD at the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth University (UK). He holds a BSc and MSc (Econ) in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

He won the ISA Deborah Gerner Award for Teaching Innovation in 2020. In 2013, he won an Australian national award for teaching excellence (AAUT); in 2012, he won UQ and Faculty awards for teaching excellence. He is also the producer (with UQx and edX.com) and convenor of 'MediaWarX', one of UQ's Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs): https://www.edx.org/course/global-media-war-technology-uqx-mediawarx-0

He was a visiting fellow/researcher at UGA in Athens, Georgia, Sao Paulo State University, Humboldt University in Berlin, Sciences Po Lyon, the Catholic University in Rio de Janeiro, The University of Sydney,and Brown University in Providence, US.

Together with his colleague A/Prof Al Stark, he hosts the podcast 'Higher Ed Heroes': https://www.buzzsprout.com/813707

And he is the co-producer of the award-winning film documentary 'Theatres of War: How the CIA and Pentagon took Hollywood': https://go.mediaed.org/theaters-of-war

Publications

Book (1)

Book Chapters (11)

Journal Articles (20)

Creative Works (13)

Audio Documents (2)

Book

Kaempf, Sebastian (2018). Saving soldiers or civilians: casualty-aversion versus civilian protection in asymmetric conflicts. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781108551816

Book Chapters

Gruszczak, Artur and Kaempf, Sebastian (2023). Introduction. Routledge handbook of the future of warfare. (pp. 1-8) London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003299011-1

Kaempf, Sebastian (2023). Deterritorialization and violent networks. Routledge handbook of the future of warfare. (pp. 142-152) London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003299011-16

Kaempf, Sebastian (2022). Getting our teaching “future ready”. Pandemic Pedagogy: Teaching International Relations Amid COVID-19. (pp. 189-202) edited by Andrew A. Szarejko. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-83557-6_12

Kaempf, Sebastian (2018). Digital media. Visual global politics. (pp. 99-103) edited by Roland Bleiker. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315856506-13

Kaempf, Sebastian (2017). The ethics of soft war on today’s mediatized battlespaces. Soft war: the ethics of unarmed conflict. (pp. 104-118) edited by Michael L. Gross and Tamar Meisels. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781316450802.010

Kaempf, Sebastian (2017). Digital battlespaces and virtual media wars. An introduction to international relations. (pp. 238-240) edited by Richard Devetak, Jim George and Sarah Percy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kaempf, Sebastian (2016). The potentiality and limits of understanding world politics in a transforming global media landscape. Understanding popular culture and world politics in the digital age. (pp. 14-31) edited by Laura J. Shepherd and Caitlin Hamilton. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315673394

Kaempf, Sebastian (2014). Postheroic U.S. warfare and the moral justification for killing in war. The future of just war: new critical essays. (pp. 79-97) edited by Amy E. Eckert and Caron E. Gentry. Athens, GA, United States: University of Georgia Press.

Kaempf, Sebastian (2012). Digital battlespace and virtual media wars. An introduction to international relations. (pp. 202-203) edited by Richard A. Devetak, Anthony Burke and Jim George. Port Melbourne Vic., Australia: Cambridge University Press.

Kaempf, Sebastian (2011). Violence and victory: Guerrilla warfare, 'authentic self-affirmation' and the overthrow of the colonial state. War, peace and progress in the 21st century : development, violence and insecurity. (pp. 129-146) London, United Kingdom: Routledge.

Kaempf, S. (2009). THE DIGITAL DIVIDE: Scarcity, inequality and conflict (Last Moyo) Case study: Virtual wars. Digital Cultures Understanding New Media. (pp. 131-138) edited by Creeber, Glen and Martin, Royston. Maidenhead, U.K.: Open University Press; McGraw-Hill.

Journal Articles

Kaempf, Sebastian and Stahl, Roger (2023). Elimination games: the global rise of military reality TV and the shaping of the citizen subject. Millennium, 51 (3), 643-662. doi: 10.1177/03058298231175980

Jetten, Jolanda, Zhao, Chongting, Álvarez, Belén, Kaempf, Sebastian and Mols, Frank (2023). Trying to unplug for 24 hours: conspiracy mentality predicts social isolation and negative emotions when refraining from internet use. advances.in/psychology, 1 (1). doi: 10.56296/aip00003

Renic, Neil C. and Kaempf, Sebastian (2022). Violence re-directed: due care and the moral challenge of casualty displacement warfare. International Relations, 37 (2), 228-250. doi: 10.1177/00471178221105598

Renic, Neil C. and Kaempf, Sebastian (2022). Modern lawfare: exploring the relationship between military first-person shooter video games and the “war is hell” myth. Global Studies Quarterly, 2 (1) ksab045. doi: 10.1093/isagsq/ksab045

Kaempf, Sebastian and Finn, Carrie (2021). Teaching international relations through the format of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). International Studies Perspectives, 22 (1), 1-24. doi: 10.1093/isp/ekz025

Kaempf, Sebastian (2019). Bugsplat: The Politics of Collateral Damage in Western Armed Conflicts. By Bruce Cronin. Perspectives on Politics, 17 (02), 537-538. doi: 10.1017/s1537592719000665

Kaempf, Sebastian (2019). Response to Bruce Cronin’s review of Saving Soldiers or Civilians? Casualty-Aversion versus Civilian Protection in Asymmetric Conflicts. Perspectives on Politics, 17 (02), 541-541. doi: 10.1017/s1537592719001294

Stahl, Roger and Kaempf, Sebastian (2019). Sousveilling the ‘Global War on Terror’. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 73 (4), 337-356. doi: 10.1080/10357718.2019.1613633

Kaempf, Sebastian (2019). ‘A relationship of mutual exploitation’: the evolving ties between the Pentagon, Hollywood, and the commercial gaming sector. Social Identities, 25 (4), 542-558. doi: 10.1080/13504630.2018.1514151

Kaempf, Sebastian (2019). How western soldiers fight: organizational routines in multinational missions. International Affairs, 95 (1), 225-226. doi: 10.1093/ia/iiy261

Clark, Ian, Kaempf, Sebastian, Reus-Smit, Christian and Tannock, Emily (2018). Crisis in the laws of war? Beyond compliance and effectiveness. European Journal of International Relations, 24 (2), 319-343. doi: 10.1177/1354066117714528

Durand, Jean-Louis and Kaempf, Sebastian (2014). Reimagining communities: opening up history to the memory of others. Millennium - Journal of International Studies, 42 (2), 331-353. doi: 10.1177/0305829813512011

Devetak, Richard, Kaempf, Sebastian and Weber, Martin (2013). Conversations in International Relations: interview with Andrew Linklater. International Relations, 27 (4), 481-505. doi: 10.1177/0047117813502504

Kaempf, Sebastian (2013). The mediatisation of war in a transforming global media landscape. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 67 (5), 586-604. doi: 10.1080/10357718.2013.817527

Kaempf, Sebastian (2012). US warfare in Somalia and the trade-off between casualty-aversion and civilian protection. Small Wars and Insurgencies, 23 (3), 388-413. doi: 10.1080/09592318.2012.661608

Kaempf, Sebastian (2011). Lost through non-translation: Bringing Clausewitz's writings on ‘new wars’ back in. Small Wars and Insurgencies, 22 (4), 548-573. doi: 10.1080/09592318.2011.599164

Kaempf, Sebastian (2010). Russia: A part of the west or apart from the west?. International Relations, 24 (3), 313-340. doi: 10.1177/0047117810377372

Curley, Melissa, Davies, Sara, Devetak, Richard and Kaempf, Seb (2009). Twentieth anniversary special issue. International relations: An oceanic perspective. Global Change, Peace and Security, 21 (1), 1-2. doi: 10.1080/14781150802659218

Kaempf, Sebastian (2009). Violence and Victory: Guerrilla warfare, ‘authentic self-affirmation’ and the overthrow of the colonial state. Third World Quarterly, 30 (1), 129-146. doi: 10.1080/01436590802622433

Kaempf, S. (2009). Double standards in US warfare: Exploring the historical legacy of civilian protection and the complex nature of the moral-legal nexus. Review of International Studies, 35 (3), 651-674. doi: 10.1017/S0260210509008699

Creative Works

Stahl, Roger , Secker, Tom , Alford, Matthew and Kaempf, Sebastian (2022). Theaters of War: How the Pentagon and CIA took Hollywood. Northampton, MA, United States: Media Education Foundation.

Durand, Jean-Louis, Kaempf, Sebastian and Schmitz, Julia (2014). Reimagining communities: opening up history to the memory of others. Tokyo, Japan: TheVisionMachine.

Stahl, Roger and Kaempf, Seb (2014). Film in IR: Innerview with Mike Williams. Beppu, Oita, Japan: the vision machine.

Mantello, Peter and Kaempf, Sebastian (2014). Shooting Death: Kevin Sites and the siege of Fallujah. Beppu, Oita, Japan: the vision machine.

Kaempf, Sebastian and Stahl, Roger (2013). Innerview: Mark Andrejevic. Beppu, Oita, Japan: the vision machine.

Campbell, David, Kaempf, Sebastian, Mantello, Peter, Rae, Ali and Walker, Ben (2013). Innerview: David Campbell on Embedding. Beppu, Oita, Japan: the vision machine.

Kaempf, Sebastian and Stahl, Roger (2013). Innverview: Chris Hables Gray. Beppu, Oita, Japan: the vision machine.

Stahl, Roger and Kaempf, Seb (2013). Zoriah the embed. Online: the vision machine.

Kaempf, Sebastian and Mantello, Peter (2013). Innverview: Susan Carruthers. Beppu, Oita, Japan: the vision machine.

Kaempf, Seb and Stahl, Roger (2013). Innerview: Carl Conetta. Beppu, Oita, Japan: the vision machine.

Kaempf, Sebastian and Stahl, Roger (2013). Innerview: Paul Sparrow. Beppu, Oita, Japan: the vision machine.

Kaempf, Sebastian and Stahl, Roger (2012). Innerview: Nick Mottern of Knowdrones. Beppu, Oita, Japan: the vision machine.

Kaempf, Sebastian, Stahl, Roger and Mantello, Peter (2012). TheVisionMachine. Beppu, Oita, Japan: the vision machine.

Audio Documents

Kaempf, Seb (Host) and Stark, Al (Host) (2021). 'Escape Box' exercise and learning through team work. Higher Ed Heroes. Higher Ed Heroes.

Kaempf, Sebastian (2014). Confessions of a terrorist: a novel. the vision machine.

Areas of research

International Relations

Peace and Conflict Studies