Dual-use technologies

Investment in defence and dual-use technologies is on the rise. As the President of the European Commission claimed in 2025, Europe is ‘in an era of rearmament’. The ReArm Europe Plan symbolises such a change in the political and industrial landscape in the EU. In artificial intelligence, quantum, and space technologies, among others, companies, investors, research institutions and governments explore the strategic development and application of technologies that can serve both civilian and military (thus ‘dual’) purposes. In this landscape, it is crucial to talk more about what ‘dual-use’ is all about. What does it mean conceptually and politically, what challenges it brings, and what can international and European law do to tackle such challenges?

Politics behind the technicality of law

This lecture will address the governance of dual-use technologies. The lecture does so by using the well-developed field of law called ‘dual-use export controls’ as a point of departure. One of the defining characteristics of dual-use export controls is their highly technical nature. If you look at the EU’s dual-use regulation (2021/821), you will see a few hundred pages of dual-use items with technical specifications. Due to the apparent technicality of the field, academic discussions regarding the political characteristics of the field are often missing. The lecture will remove the technical veil of the law and shed light on multiple political tensions and structural inequalities that are also embedded in international law more broadly beyond export controls.

Implications for universities

To talk about the political baggage of dual-use items is important, precisely because of the increased relevance of research-performing organisations, including universities, in the governance of dual-use technologies. As geopolitical competitions intensify, both militarily and technologically, international research collaboration in the EU is seen as risking the transfer of technologies to the ‘wrong hands’. Dual-use export control is the main legal instrument to mitigate such risks. Understanding the political contexts of dual-use and related legal instruments is the necessary step here, in order for research organisations to stay resilient amidst Europe’s the increasingly geopoliticised research and innovation endeavours.

This is a public lecture and no registration is necessary.

The inaugural lecture can also be followed online. The link will be made available on the University of Amsterdam’s event page.