My project investigates the international security implications and politics concerned with AI gatekeeping. I will specifically focus on three key areas. Each of these operates at a different level of analysis, building up to a global picture. The three chosen foci are Secrets, Races, and Regulations:

1) How forms of secrecy and non-knowledge are enacted through AI Gatekeeping (e.g., effects on nuclear secrecy, media discourses on security politics etc.).

2) How international competition over AI developments (AI arms race) may be shaped by gatekeeping concerns (how does the AI arms race itself shape how security-related AI is created and how gatekeeping functions; and how does AI gatekeeping change the ways states engage in strategic signalling to manage the security dilemma).

3) How international processes of emerging AI governance engage gatekeeping concerns.

Primary Supervisor: Dr Michael Bourne

Secondary Supervisor: Dr Sandra Scott-Hayward

Primary Supervisor: Dr Stefan Andreasson

Secondary Supervisor: Dr Jack Taggart

Primary Supervisor: Dr Cillian McBride

Secondary Supervisor: Prof Cathal McCall

Primary Supervisor: Dr Michele Crepaz

Secondary Supervisor: Prof Muiris MacCarthaigh

Looking specifically at Loyalist women in East Belfast, my research seeks to understand in what ways can women connect to the symbolic landscape that surrounds them after a violent conflict. I will take into consideration rituals and public space, and focus on gender and emotions to analyse my findings.

Emily’s work examines the evolving discussions surrounding the responsible use and governance of AI-powered weaponized drones. This requires an examination of the influence of humans on artificial intelligence systems, the impact on the targeting and deployment of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UCAVs), and who should be held responsible for collaboration between humans and AI or autonomous decisions made by AI. The project integrates the Human Loop theory, and will explore the degrees of human influence in deploying UCAVs through the lens of governance and algorithmic generation processes.

Primary Supervisor: Dr Michael Bourne

Secondary Supervisor: Dr Vishal Sharma

Primary Supervisor: Dr Elodie Fabre

Secondary Supervisor: Dr James Pow

I am researching the educational backgrounds of Cabinet Secretaries to reveal which educational groups gain prominent political positions.

Primary Supervisor: Dr Elodie Fabre

Secondary Supervisor: Dr James Pow

Primary Supervisor: Prof Cathal McCall

Secondary Supervisor: Dr James Pow

My research interests include political thought, populism, democratic theory, deliberative democracy and radical democracy. My current research will examine the role of populist action in different models of democracy.

The central notion underpinning democracy is that the people rule. This meaning emanates from the term itself since the ideal is one of the people (demos) exercising power (kratos), and serves the important function of creating a boundary between democratic rule and all other forms of rule. Whereas legitimacy may be claimed by a single person (monarchy) or group (oligarchy) in other forms of rule, democratic legitimacy can only be claimed when it is citizens themselves who create laws. As this condition is fairly broad, the precise nature of democracy has been a matter of ongoing contestation. Some scholars, for instance, believe that democracy rests on the power of the people to select their own leaders, while others defend a more robust form of democratic rule based on the shared identity of the rulers and the ruled. This thesis evaluates some of the most prominent theories of democracy with the aim of finding a normatively defensible model of democracy that truly delivers on the democratic premise to let the people rule. The purpose for this study is to arrive at a model of democracy that challenges the dominance of the populist interpretation of popular rule. Although this is a dangerous interpretation of democracy, with the ‘rule of the people’ being translated into the sovereign rule of the unified ‘people’, it remains popular with scholars and ordinary people alike. Consequently, scholars have found it difficult to determine whether contemporary populists, who draw on this theory of democracy, pose a threat to liberalism only, or to democracy itself. To challenge such defences of populism, I show that populism is a theory of democracy that merely creates an illusion of popular rule. It is a form of authoritarianism disguised as democracy; populists may speak the language of democracy, but their actions expose their desire for exclusive power.

Primary Supervisor: Dr Keith Breen

Secondary Supervisor: Dr Cillian McBride

Dale is an ESRC NINE DTP Ph.D. candidate at Queen's University Belfast under the supervision of Dr Andrew Thomson, Professor Graham Walker and Professor Richard English. He previously completed both his BA in International Politics and Conflict Studies and his MA in Politics at Queen's, receiving the Frank Wright Prize for excellence during postgraduate study.

Dale's PhD research project will investigate complexity and variation in state-PGM relationships. There is a growing body of empirical analyses on extra-dyadic actors that refers to “pro-government militias” (PGMs), conceived broadly as non-state armed organizations that are pro-government in some way. Because these groups are defined by their “pro-government” orientation, researchers often assume that governments directly or indirectly manage or delegate tasks to PGMs. However, a closer inspection reveals a variety of relationships with the state.

Taking case studies from Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, Colombia, and the Philippines, Dale's project will contribute to a better understanding of state-PGM relationships by providing theories that explain variations in government-PGM relationships, from open state-led paramilitaries through to hostile engagement between the state and counter-insurgency organisations.

Primary Supervisor: Dr Andrew Thomson

Secondary Supervisor: Dr Michael Bourne

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Northern Ireland underwent a period of socio-political polarisation and upheaval. This was centred on the rights of the region’s Catholic minority and their long-term concerns regarding democratic representation, widespread gerrymandering, unemployment, and housing. The resulting Northern Irish Civil Rights movement sought to avoid traditional ethno-nationalist fault lines. Instead, it appealed directly to the British government and public - over the head of Northern Ireland's regional parliament with its permanent Protestant/Unionist majority - to achieve its goals.

The movement’s unique approach of appealing to Westminster to pursue ‘British Rights’ raises questions about how the British political, media and public sphere responded to this. This has an implication for both our understanding of the movement in Northern Ireland, as well as for the workings of social movements more broadly.

Funded by the Department for the Economy Postgraduate Studentship Scheme

Primary Supervisor: Prof Richard English

Secondary Supervisor: Dr Peter McLoughlin

My research focuses on the conflict in Northern Ireland, especially from the perspective of the division within unionism.

Primary Supervisor: Dr James Pow

Secondary Supervisor: Dr Dominic Bryan