War Studies

Date of Recording: 16/01/2019 Description: While a renaissance in wargaming is currently underway across the political, military, educational, and commercial sectors, there is no academic discipline dedicated to the study and practice of wargaming. While wargame design, research and execution is advancing, a lack of integration limits the impact of these innovative activities. And although the body of scholarly work on wargaming is growing, it has yet to be drawn together to develop best-practice guidance for research and teaching. In this public lecture, Dr Yuna Wong (RAND) discusses how we can build an integrated, globally-recognised academic field in which knowledge about wargaming may be produced, preserved, and transmitted. She addresses the questions: Why do we need an academic discipline of wargaming? What concrete steps can we take in the short and medium terms to establish such a discipline? What obstacles might we face in this endeavour? _______________________________ For more news and information on upcoming events, please visit our website at kcl.ac.uk/warstudies or follow us on Twitter @warstudies.

Date of Publication: 19/01/2019 Description: We are going to kick off 2019 by exploring the development of international criminal law and justice, starting from the year 1919. Following the end of the First World War, the Allied nations of Britain, France and Italy agreed to try the former German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II before an international criminal tribunal, while the US stood largely opposed to such an unprecedented trial. During the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, International lawyers converged to debate on the development and application of international criminal justice for the first time and recommended that the Kaiser should be tried for war crimes. In order to break an impasse in negotiations between the US and the other Allied nations on the trial of the Kaiser, US President Woodrow Wilson would relent, agreeing to try the Kaiser for what he termed as a 'supreme offence against international morality'. This would become a part of the official wording Article 227 of the Treaty of Versailles, which called for the Kaiser’s trial. However, with the Kaiser successfully obtaining asylum in the Netherlands and the subsequent refusal of the Dutch to hand him over, the trial would never take place. Despite the Allied powers’ failed attempt to prosecute the Kaiser, this moment in history bears a special significance for the development of international criminal law and justice and marks the beginning of many salient legal debates present today, particularly those around the prosecution of a head of state. To help us further explore the importance of this moment to the development of international criminal law and Justice, Kirk Allen had the opportunity to speak with renowned international legal expert Prof William Schabas about his recent book, ‘The Trial of the Kaiser’. Also, following our interview with Prof Schabas, we will hear from one of the DWS’ own international legal experts, Dr Rachel Kerr, who focuses on international law, war crimes, and transitional justice. In our interview, we will discuss the development of international criminal law and justice since the Treaty of Versailles and discuss some of the successes and shortcomings of today's international legal institutions such the International Criminal Court (ICC). Bios: - Prof William A. Schabas, has been called 'the world expert on the law of genocide and international law.' He is Professor of international law at Middlesex University in London, Professor of International Law and Human Rights at Leiden University, distinguished visiting faculty at Sciences Po in Paris, and honorary chairman of the Irish Centre for Human Rights. He is the author of more than twenty books in the fields of human rights and international criminal law. He drafted the 2010 and 2015 United Nations quinquennial reports on the death penalty and was a member of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Professor Schabas is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Royal Irish Academy since 2007. Publications: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=kiCThLQAAAAJ&hl=en 'The Trial of the Kaiser' - https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-trial-of-the-kaiser-9780198833857?cc=gb&lang=en& - Dr Rachel Kerr is a Reader in International Relations and Contemporary War in the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. She joined the Department as a Lecturer in 2003, teaching on War Studies Online programmes, having previously worked in academic publishing for Polity Press. Dr. Kerr holds a BA in International History and Politics from the University of Leeds and an MA and PhD in War Studies from King’s College London. Dr. Kerr co-directs the War Crimes Research Group. She also co-chair the BISA International Law and Politics Working Group and the London Transitional Justice Network. Publications: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=8CXWqx0AAAAJ&hl=en

Date of Recording: 19/10/18 Description: Why and how do military governments surrender power to elected civilian governments? The nineteen years since Nigeria emerged from military rule and transitioned to democracy in May 1999 is the longest era of civilian rule in its history. After the military governed Nigeria for 29 of the previous 33 years, 1999 ended a long-standing pattern of failed attempts by military governments to cede power to civilians. However, the transition to civilian rule was not unconditional. Military governments often extract a “price” or concessions in exchange for departing from government. They may acquire economic, political, and other interests that they are reluctant to relinquish when military rule ends. The military ostensibly withdrew from government but maintained influence over its successors by confining them within militarily imposed boundaries. Former military rulers have governed Nigeria for 11 of the 19 years since 1999 (including the current president). Many prior studies in this area focused on external macro factors that cause military withdrawal from governance (such as pressure from external actors like the EU, USA, and UN, and the ‘snowballing’ effects of democratisation in other countries). A distinguishing feature of Nigeria’s transition from military to civilian rule was that the military itself initiated the transition and prepared the way for its own replacement. Why did it do so? Prolonged military rule corroded military professionalism and created intra-military cleavages, injected ethno-regional and political controversies into the military, increased the risk of military coups, and caused premature attrition from the officer corps. Thus pressure for an end to military rule ironically emerged from within the military. Extrication from governance was a decision of military self-interest to give the military space to restore professional norms, while simultaneously preserving influence over its successors, and insulating the military from transformational reforms. Bio: John Ubani Jr is a PhD student in the War Studies department. He is a "lawyer by day and a PhD student at night"! He is researching Nigeria’s 1999 transition from military rule to democracy, and the factors that influence military governments to surrender power to elected civilian governments. John is a corporate lawyer. He has an LLB law degree from University College London, a postgraduate degree in law from the College of Law, London, and a Masters degree in African Studies (with distinction) from SOAS.

Date of Recording: 29/11/2018 Description: To mark the end of the Art & Reconciliation event series, the project team held a symposium where project participants, artists, practitioners and academics will explore the key themes of the project. This symposium started with a keynote lecture by Dr Valentin Inzko, High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 'Art and Power'. Bio: Dr Valentin Inzko is an Austrian diplomat currently serving as the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, a role which he assumed in 2009. Between 2009 and 2011 he served also as the European Union Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. ______________________________ For more news and information on upcoming events, please visit our website at kcl.ac.uk/warstudies

Date of Recording: 05/12/2018 Description: After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the independent republics of Central Asia have constantly tried to create a form of regional order that would preserve their sovereignty while enacting purposeful and pragmatic cooperation over economic, security, and political issues. In the mid-1990s and early 2000s, discourses of ‘brotherhood’ and of ‘century-old ties’ underpinned the creation of several regional organisations were created to serve cooperation and integration, leading scholars and analysts to speculate of a potential ‘Central Asian bloc’ within the post-Soviet space. Yet, these organisations faded away and were dismantled in the light of very limited results and tangible outputs. In the words of many analysts, regionalism ‘failed’. In fact, from the mid-2000s onward, relations between the Central Asian states have been strained and rather cold, despite the avoidance and the absence of outright conflict. With the death of Uzbekistan’s first president Islam Karimov in 2016 and the subsequent ascension to power of Shavkat Mirziyoyev, regional cooperation and Central Asian diplomacy seem to have been rebooted and have received new lymph. Enthusiastic commentaries on the chance of a ‘return of Central Asia’ are now back to the fore once again, and parallels with the 1990s are being drawn. Yet, one may ask: to what extent are international, regional, and local political conditions allowing for such parallels? What is old, and what is new, in the current Central Asian regional order? And finally, how is this order going to develop? Bio: Dr Costa Buranelli has a PhD from the Dept of War Studies, King's and is now a lecturer in the Dept of International Relations at the University of St Andrew's. His research looks at how norms, rules and institutions within international society are localized, understood and practiced in different regional contexts. Dr Buranelli's research has been published in Millennium: Journal of International Studies, Global Discourse, and the Journal of Eurasian studies. He has conducted fieldwork in Central Asia, and in particular Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. __________________________ For more news and information on upcoming events, please visit our website at kcl.ac.uk/warstudies

Date of Recording: 22/11/2018 Description: Join Guy Lamb, Director of the Safety and Violence Initiative (University of Cape Town), discusses his latest research on the globally pressing issue of police militarisation and the ‘war on crime’, drawing on the experiences of South Africa. Speaker bio: Guy Lamb is the Director of the Safety and Violence Initiative (SaVI) at the University of Cape Town (UCT), a post he has held since October 2012. He also convenes postgraduate courses in the Departments of Political Studies and Public Law at UCT. Prior to this he was the Programme Head of the Arms Management Programme at the Institute for Security Studies and served on the UN Security Council Panel of Experts on Liberia. His most recent publications include “Police Militarization and the ‘War on Crime’ in South Africa”, Journal of Southern African Studies Vol. 44, No. 5, October 2018, and “Massacres and the Reform of the Police: South Africa Past and Present”, South African Crime Quarterly, 63, March 2018. ________________________________ For more news and information on upcoming events, please visit our website at kcl.ac.uk/warstudies

Date of Recording: 07/12/2018 Description: Dr Peter Perla, 'The Art and Science of Wargaming to Innovate and Educate in an Era of Strategic Competition' What can we know about pressing security challenges through wargaming? How do we know? To mark the establishment of a new Wargaming Network, the School of Security Studies is launching a public lecture series on wargaming. The lectures will examine fundamental challenges for adapting wargaming theory and practice to usefully address contemporary security problems facing the UK and its NATO allies. The UK and its NATO allies have revived their interest in wargaming as a tool for strategic, operational and technological innovation in a new strategic environment marked by the return of major power competition. While the value of wargaming as a method for learning and teaching is well-accepted, its value as a rigorous academic method of inquiry is still largely contested. Dr Perla will re-examine the fundamental theoretical debate of whether wargaming should be considered an art or a science in the context of the changed security environment. The aim of the talk is to bring wargaming theory and practice to a new multi-disciplinary epistemological ground that would enable its useful contribution to advancing knowledge, informing policy and furthering education.

Date of Publication: 07/12/2018 Description: The capabilities and the efficiency displayed by Russia’s military during its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its subsequent air campaign over Syria not only surprised the world but also signalled that Russia was once again a significant military actor. This evidence of an apparent Russian military revival, among other recent events, has increased tensions between Russia and its neighbors as well as NATO and has led many to highlight Russia’s latest military advancements and operations as a major turning point in the post-Cold War era. However, Dr Bettina Renz, associate professor at the University of Nottingham and author of the recent book, ‘Russia’s Military Revival’, argues that although Russia’s recent actions have created serious concerns, this so-called ‘military revival’ may not appear to be as significant of a turning point when put into historical context. So, what is the significance of Russia’s ‘military revival’? On the 16th of November, the DWS and Dr. Natasha Kuhrt, lecturer in the Dept. and co-convener of the Departmental Research Group on Russian and Eurasian Security, hosted Dr. Bettina Renz for a talk on her recent book. But, before this talk, Natasha and Kirk Allen had the opportunity to discuss the significance of Russia’s military revival and its potential threat with our guest lecturer. You can access the recording of Bettina Renz's talk by following this link: https://soundcloud.com/warstudies/event-russias-military-revival _______________________________ For more news and information on upcoming events, please visit our website at kcl.ac.uk/warstudies

Date of Recording: 03/12/2018 Description: The Parachute Regiment played a prominent role in the 1982 Falklands conflict. They fought iconic battles at Goose Green, Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge, and won both the war’s Victoria Crosses. Combat in the Falklands transformed the Paras’ reputation in the public mind, and moved them away from the legacies of their involvement in Northern Ireland. This lecture examines this elite unit of the British Army before, during and after the Falklands war; and in so doing, offers a window into Britain’s changing society in the 1970s and the 1980s. Who were the men who chose to join the ranks of a Regiment like the Paras in the 1970s? How did they experience combat in the Falklands? And what did it mean, for them, their families, and for Britain, after they returned home? Bio: Helen Parr teaches at Keele University. She has previously written on Britain’s relations with Europe. This lecture marks the publication of her book, Our Boys: The Story of a Paratrooper (Allen Lane, 2018).

Date of Recording: 26/11/2018 Organised by the War Studies Department and the Russian and Eurasian Security Research Group. Description: "Russian annexation of Crimea and the subsequent air campaign over Syria took the world by surprise. The capabilities and efficiency of Moscow’s armed forces during both operations signalled to the world that Russia was back in business as a significant military actor on the international stage. Whilst the West must adjust to the reality of a modernised and increasingly powerful Russian military, Dr Renz argues that the renaissance of Russian military might and its implications for the balance of global power can only be fully understood within a wider historical context. Assessing developments in Russian Great Power thinking, military capabilities, Russian strategic thought and views on the use of force throughout the post-Soviet era, this talk will show that rather than signifying a sudden Russian military resurgence, recent developments are consistent with longstanding trends in Russian military strategy and foreign policy." Bio: Dr Bettina Renz is Senior Lecturer in International Security at the University of Nottingham’s School of Politics and International Relations. Following an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship at Birmingham, she lectured in Defence Studies for King’s 3College London (Royal Air Force College) before being appointed to her current post in 2007. Her main area of expertise is contemporary Russian security and defence policy with a particular interest in post-Soviet reforms of the military and security sector. Her book, 'Russia's Military Revival' was published by Polity Press in 2018. ______________________________ A podcast with Bettina Renz and Natasha Kuhrt will be released next Friday (7 December 2018) ______________________________ For more news and information on upcoming events, please visit our website at KCL.AC.UK/WARSTUDIES.

Date of Recording: 12/11/2018 Description: What counts as ethical behaviour in the aftermath of military intervention carried out under the ‘responsibility to protect’ (R2P) principle? This question has become topical in light of the events in Libya, following the 2011 protection intervention. Rather than heralding a new, peaceful Libya, the country has been divided by armed militias and the fighting has escalated into a full-blown civil war. The Libyan experience not only foregrounds the importance of an often overlooked norm in the R2P framework, the responsibility to rebuild (R2R), but it also calls for a more pragmatist assessment of what ought to be done, and what is achievable, after protection interventions. This event is part of the Conflict, Security, and Development Speakers Series. Please see our CSD Facebook page for details on future events. Bio Outi Donovan is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Politics and International Studies at University of Leeds. Her research interests are in responsibility to protect and rebuild, ethnic conflicts and identity politics and her monograph on statebuilding in Bosnia, The Contentious Politics of Statebuilding, was published last year by Routledge. Her current research project, funded by the ESRC, examines the rebuilding element of the responsibility to protect principle. Chair: Christine Cheng, War Studies ________________________________________ For more news and information on upcoming events, please visit our website at KCL.AC.UK/WARSTUDIES

Date of Recording: 29/10/2018 Description: There is an emerging consensus that women’s participation in peace negotiations contributes to the quality and durability of peace after civil war. However, to date, this proposition has remained empirically untested. Moreover, how women’s participation may contribute to durable peace has not been systematically explored. Our research demonstrates a robust correlation between peace agreements signed by female delegates and durable peace. We further find that agreements signed by women show a significantly higher number of peace agreement provisions aimed at political reform, and higher implementation rates for provisions. We argue that linkages between women signatories and women civil society groups explain the observed positive impact of women’s direct participation in peace negotiations. Collaboration and knowledge building among diverse women groups contributes to better content of peace agreements and higher implementation rates of agreement provisions. Our findings support the assumption that women’s participation in peace negotiations increases the durability and the quality of peace." Bio: Dr. Jana Krause is an Assistant Professor in Security/Conflict in the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam. Her research focuses on political violence and international security, with interests in communal conflicts and civil wars; non-violence and civilian protection; post-conflict peace building and social resilience; and gender and security. She has conducted extensive field research on these issues in Indonesia and Nigeria. Previously, Dr Krause was a Visiting Research Fellow with the Conflict, Security and Development Research Group in the Department of War Studies at King's College London (2013-2016), and the lead researcher and co-investigator of a research project on gender, conflict and peacebuilding at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva (2014-2016). __________________________________ For more news and information on upcoming events, please visit our website at KCL.AC.UK/WARSTUDIES.

Date of Recording: 21/11/2018 Description: Andrew Lambert, author of The Challenge: Britain Against America in the Naval War of 1812—winner of the prestigious Anderson Medal—turns his attention to Athens, Carthage, Venice, the Dutch Republic, and Britain, examining how their identities as “seapowers” informed their actions and enabled them to achieve success disproportionate to their size. Lambert demonstrates how creating maritime identities made these states more dynamic, open, and inclusive than their lumbering continental rivals. Only when they forgot this aspect of their identity did these nations begin to decline. Recognizing that the United States and China are modern naval powers—rather than seapowers—is essential to understanding current affairs, as well as the long-term trends in world history. This volume is a highly original “big think” analysis of five states whose success—and eventual failure—is a subject of enduring interest, by a scholar at the top of his game. Andrew Lambert is Laughton Professor of Naval History at King’s College, London, and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. ____________________________ For more news and information on upcoming events, please visit our website at KCL.AC.UK/WARSTUDIES

Date of Publication: 23/11/2018 Description: It is clear that religion is an important factor to consider when examining many conflicts around the world, but what about nonreligion? Last July, Dr. Stacey Gutkowski, senior lecturer in the DWS and Co-Director of Nonreligion and Secularity Research Network (NSRN), convened the annual NSRN conference, ‘World views in Worldview’, at KCL. This conference sought to drive further dialogue between scholars of critical religious, secular and nonreligion studies and showcase rich, empirical fieldwork from case studies across the world. In brining nonreligion and secular studies to the DWS, Dr Gutkowski argues that in order to understand conflict, one needs to not only look at individual experiences but also at what religious and nonreligious resources individuals draw on to help inform their ethical understandings and perceptions of the world. In this special edition of the War Studies Podcast, Dr. Gutkowski will introduce us to the NSRN, draw fascinating linkages between the studies of nonreligion and conflict that are highlighted in her research and lead us into the 2018 NSRN Annual Lecture, 'Secular Powers and Heretic Undercurrents', by Samuli Schielke, which will follow directly after our interview. Bio: - Dr Stacey Gutkowski is a Senior Lecturer in Conflict Studies and Deputy Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Divided Societies at King’s College London. Prior to joining King’s she was an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of International Relations, University of Sussex; a Visiting Scholar at the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, Arizona State University; and a Research Associate with the Religion and Ethics in the Making of War and Peace Programme, University of Edinburgh. - Samuli Schielke is a Research Fellow at the Zentrum Moderner Orient in Berlin. His research interests include Islam, festive culture, subjectivity and morality, and migration and aspiration in Egypt. ______________________________________________ For more news and information on upcoming events please visit our website at kcl.ac.uk/warstudies.

Date of Recording: 29 Oct 2018 Description: Liddell Hart himself said that war was always a matter of doing evil in the hopes that good may come of it. This talk will explore the good that he and others hoped they might be able to forge from the evils of 1914-1918. It will focus largely on the new role of the United States, examining America's newly-found power, its attempt to base the peace on principles rather than diplomatic dealing, and its fundamental lack of understanding of the problems the war had unleashed. It will end with a case study on America's surprising and long-forgotten role in the Syria crisis of 1919. Biography: Michael S Neiberg is Chair of War Studies at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania where he teaches history, strategy, and international relations to American and international security professionals. His published work specialises on the First and Second World Wars in a global context. The Wall Street Journal named his Dance of the Furies: Europe and the Outbreak of World War I one of the five best books ever written about that war. In October 2016 Oxford University Press published his Path to War, a history of American responses to the Great War in Europe, 1914-1917 and in July 2017 Oxford published his Concise History of the Treaty of Versailles. This year he was awarded the Médaille d'Or du Rayonnement Culturel from Renaissance Française, an organisation founded by French President Raymond Poincaré in 1915 to keep French culture alive during the First World War.