Dr Sebastian Kaempf is Senior Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies at the School of Political Science and International Studies.

Dr Kaempf's expertise lies at the intersection between International Relations and Peace and Conflict Studies, with specialization in the areas of international security, conflict transformation, 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.

UQ Researcher Profile

Cover image credit, Weststock, via Adobe Stock (2023)

About School Research Seminar Series

POLSIS Research Seminar Series 

Semester 2 2025

All sessions are held in-person, Friday 1 — 2:30pm, Room 537, Building 39A (unless stated)

1 August

Minran Liu (UQ)Seminar

‘Correcting the World: Justice and Coercion in Chinese Strategic Culture’

8 August

Katherine Cullerton (UQ) 

Seminar

‘Corporate influence and the nutrition policy stalemate in Australia’

15 August

Ilias Alami (Cambridge), Lee Jones (QMUL), Seth Schindler (Manchester), Shahar Hameiri (UQ)

Roundtable'The Second Cold War and the Politics of Polyalignment’

22 August

Alastair Stark (UQ)Seminar

‘Erase and Repeat: Institutional Amnesia in Government’

29 AugustAlastair Stark (Chair)Portfolio EventGrad Centre Event: Participation

5 September

Michael Gavin (UQ)Seminar‘The Politics of the IMF's lending capacity’

12 September

Jon Piccini (ACU)Seminar

'The History of Left Nationalist Foreign Policy in Australia’

17 September (5-7pm)Andrew Phillips (UQ)Inaugural Lecture, 275 GCI Building‘Who Killed the Liberal International Order, and What Comes Next?’

19 September

Martin Weber (Chair)Portfolio EventIndigenous Engagement Event
26 SeptemberKiri Ingram (UQ)Seminar

‘The strategic logic of gender in violent extremist ideology and propaganda strategy: from Islamic State to Incels’

10 October

Ryan Walter (Chair)Portfolio EventT&L Event: Secure Assessment Showcase
17 October

Lindy Andren, Molly Murphy, Cormac Opdebeeck Wilson (UQ)

ECR ShowcaseECR Showcase
24 October

Julie Ballangarry & Outi Donovan (Griffith)

Seminar‘First Nations and Feminist Foreign Policy’

29 October
(1-5pm)

Outi Donovan & Matt McDonald (Chairs)UQ-Griffith Showcase, Ship Inn, South BankUQ- Griffith Research Showcase: Politics & IR in SEQ

 

Enquiries:

Director of Research, Professor Matt McDonald – matt.mcdonald@uq.edu.au

 

 

Venue

Room: 
Room 537, 39A