Antipreneurial behavior in conflict over norms: A case study on the resistance of nation-states against a preventive ban on lethal autonomous weapons systems

Abstract: Since 2014, the international community has been discussing how to deal with the emergence of increasingly autonomous weapons systems under the auspices of the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. This case study examines the behavior of those nation-states that oppose a preventive ban on lethal autonomous weapons systems in this forum. In this regard, the concept of antipreneurship is applied to the analysis of the international meetings in order to explore the resistance patterns with which antipreneurs reject the need for normative change. Analyzing the content of related documents shows that antipreneurs block formal negotiations on a ban and deem legal weapons reviews to be a sufficient regulatory instrument. Beyond that, the antipreneurs also attempt to create a beneficial image of the relationship between artificial intelligence and international humanitarian law. This behavior contributes to force norm entrepreneurs increasingly into a defensive position and sustainably undermines their entrepreneurial demand for a preventive ban. Besides, the analysis distinguishes the resistance of antipreneurs from ambivalent behavior that cannot be clearly linked neither to the behavior of entrepreneurs nor to that of antipreneurs.