War Studies

The first topic is on Boko Haram in Nigeria, where BA student Bradley Murray interviews Virginia Comolli, who came into the department on Monday 21st September to discuss the findings of her new book. Professor Christopher Coker from the London School of Economics talks about the future of war and its implications, in time for a longer talk he is going to give on the 29th of September at King's College London, hosted by KCL Future Society. Jayne Peake provides details of next week's events. Presented by Bradley Murray, and Xenia Zubova, both students in the Department of War Studies. To hear the full lecture given by Virginia on Boko Haram, go to the 'Events' section here on the War Studies Soundcloud. For more information on "The Future of War" event with Christopher Coker, more information is available on KCL Future Society's Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/873213112765900/ DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

War Studies alumna Malgorzata Skowronska returned to the Department at the end of March to screen her documentary ‘Narkomen’. The documentary exposes the problem of heroin addiction in Tajikistan through the personal stories of Mirzo and Mamadkhon, two drug users from the small village of Porshniev in the Gorno-Badakhshan region. She spoke about the issue of heroin addiction and the challenges she faced in making the documentary. In May, the Arts & Humanities Research Institute at King’s, in conjunction with the Institute for the Arts and Humanities at the University of North Carolina, staged an international conference on the Cultural Legacies of World War I. MA student Hilary Hurd spoke to Professor Max Saunders about the conference. Professor Saunders is primarily a literary critic, specialising in the 19th and 20th centuries, and especially in turn-of-the-century and Modernist fiction, criticism, and poetry. Presented by Charlie de Rivaz and Bradley Murray. DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this recording are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

The KCL UN Association sent a delegation to the recent Model UN event in Seoul, South Korea -- and even won two prizes. We talked to BA students Yuji Develle and Jackson Webster about their experience. Dr Jolyon Ford is with the Global Economic Governance Programme at the University of Oxford, and an Associate Fellow at Chatham House. He came to the War Studies Department to talk about his book ‘Regulating Business for Peace’, published in February by Cambridge University Press. Jayne Peake talks about next week's events. Presented by Dr Peter Busch and Charlie de Rivaz DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this recording are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Dr Jolyon Ford is with the Global Economic Governance Programme at the University of Oxford, and an Associate Fellow at Chatham House. His research focuses on the regulation of investor and business activity in fragile and conflict-affected states, options for fostering responsible and conflict-sensitive business practices, and public policy on the private sector's role in meeting development goals. His blog is Private Sector - Public World. Until the end of 2013 he headed the sub-Saharan Africa practice for Oxford Analytica. On 24 March 2015 Dr Ford came to the War Studies Department to talk about some of the themes in his book ‘Regulating Business for Peace’, published in February by Cambridge University Press. Examining ways in which the UN peace architecture has engaged with the private sector, Dr Ford explored the nature of post-conflict transitional regulation and governance. The talk was hosted by the Conflict, Security and Development Research Group, and was chaired by Dr Christine Cheng. DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this recording are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Åsne Seierstad is an award-winning Norwegian journalist and writer known for her work as a war correspondent and as the author of the international bestseller, 'The Bookseller of Kabul’. She discusses her new book, ‘One of Us’ (Little, Brown/Virago), about Anders Breivik and the massacre in Norway. Dr Nina Kollars, Assistant Professor of Government at Franklin & Marshall College, talks to MA student Hilary Hurd about soldier-led adaptation in Iraq and Vietnam. Jayne Peake provides details of next week's events. Presented by Charlie de Rivaz. DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Dr Nico Prucha is the new VOX-Pol Research Fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) in the Department of War Studies at King’s. His work focuses on analysing and deciphering primary Arabic-language jihadist propaganda content on- and offline. Prior to this, Nico worked as a doctoral candidate for the Department of Near Eastern Studies at the University of Vienna. He is the author of ‘The Voice of Jihad: "Sawt al- Jihad": al- Qaeda's first online magazine’ (in German) and the forthcoming ‘Online Territories of Terror - How Jihadist Movements Project Influence and Conduct Warfare on the Internet and Why it Matters Offline’. On 17 March 2015, Dr Prucha delivered a talk entitled ‘The Use of the Internet by Islamic State in Syria’. The event was chaired by Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, Head of Research and Information at ICSR. DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this recording are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Sarah Chayes is a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. A former reporter, Chayes covered the fall of the Taliban for National Public Radio. She then opted to leave journalism and remain in Afghanistan to contribute to the reconstruction of the country. During a decade living in Afghanistan, Sarah advised two commanders of the international troops in-country and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. She is also author of ‘The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban’ (2006) and a contributing writer for the Los Angeles Times. Her articles have appeared in the Washington Post and Foreign Policy, among other publications. On 10 March 2015, Sarah came to the Department of War Studies to present her new book ‘Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security’ (Norton), which argues that corruption is the common thread that ties together the world’s contemporary international security crises. The event was chaired by Dr Christine Cheng and hosted by the Conflict, Security and Development Research Group. DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Dr Médéric Martin-Mazé, Research Associate in the Department of War Studies, gives an assessment of the new report by the Intelligence & Security Committee of the British Parliament on mass surveillance. Dr Lauren Wilcox, Deputy Director of the Cambridge University of Cambridge Centre for Gender Studies, talks about her new book: Bodies of Violence: Theorizing Embodied Subjects in International Relations (OUP 2015). Jayne Peake provides details of next week's events. Presented by Dr Peter Busch DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Nina Kollars is Assistant Professor of Government at Franklin & Marshall College. Dr. Kollars' research investigates the processes by which individuals and groups innovate and adapt when in high-stakes contexts with inadequate resources.  Other work explores the institutional and social structures that facilitate innovation in both military and civilian contexts, including warfare and cybersecurity. On 3 March 2015, Dr Kollars came to the Department of War Studies to deliver a talk entitled ‘War’s Horizon: Soldier-led Adaptation in Iraq and Vietnam’. Professor Theo Farrell, Head of the Department, commented on the talk. The Chair was Professor Joe Maiolo, and the event was hosted by the Sir Michael Howard Centre for the History of War. DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Åsne Seierstad is an award-winning Norwegian journalist and writer known for her work as a war correspondent. She is the author of the international bestseller, 'The Bookseller of Kabul', which sold over two million copies, as well as 'One Hundred and One Days: A Baghdad Journal', and 'Angel of Grozny: Inside Chechnya'. On 4 March 2015, Åsne came to the War Studies department to discuss her new book, ‘One of Us’ (published by Little, Brown/Virago), about Anders Breivik and his massacre of 77 Norwegians, mostly children, in Norway, July 2011. The event was hosted by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR), and chaired by Shiraz Maher. DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Inderjeet Parmar, Professor in International Politics at City University London, talks about ‘Barack Obama and American Power’. Professor Parmar is the author of several books on US foreign policy, including “Barack Obama and the Myth of a Post-racial America” (2013) and “Foundations of the American Century” (2012). Next week is the Conflict, Security and Development Conference 2015. Bilal Bag, an MA student here in the Department of War Studies and a member of the organising committee for CSD 2015, tells us about the conference: ‘Post-2015 Development Challenges in Conflict Zones’. Jayne Peake provides details of next week's events. Presented by Charlie de Rivaz (current MA student in Conflict, Security and Development). To hear the full lecture given by Professor Inderjeet Parmar on ‘Barack Obama and American Power’ go to the 'Events' section here on the War Studies Soundcloud. For more information about the CSD 2015 conference, go to the website: https://csd2015.wordpress.com DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Inderjeet Parmar is Professor in International Politics at City University London. He has authored seven book on US policy, including “Barack Obama and the Myth of a Post-racial America” (2013) and “Foundations of the American Century” (2012). He is currently serving as President of the British International Studies Association (BISA). On 4 March 2015 Professor Parmar was the keynote speaker at the inaugural Strife / United States Foreign Policy Research Group conference, entitled ‘A world in flux? Analysis and prospects for the US in global security‘. Strife is a student-led, dual-format publication, based out of the Department of War Studies at King’s. It comprises a blog as well as a peer-reviewed academic journal, published biannually. The thematic focus is ‘conflict’ in all shapes, forms and senses of the word. DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Dr Srinath Raghavan is Senior Research Fellow at King's India Institute. He took his MA and PhD from the Department of War Studies, King's College London. He is the author of 'War and Peace in Modern India: A Strategic History of the Nehru Years'(2010) and '1971: A Global History of the Creation of Bangladesh' (2013). On 25 February 2015 he gave a talk examining the economic impact of the Second World War on India. It was hosted by the Sir Michael Howard Centre for the History of War and the the King's India Institute, and chaired by Professor David Edgerton. DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Sarah Covington, lead analyst on the Central African Republic for the Country Risk Team at IHS, and Albert Caramés, associate researcher at the Groupe de Rechercheet Information pour la Paix (GRIP), discuss War and Peace in the Central African Republic. Undergraduate students in the Department of War Studies, Millie Radovic and Adam Holub, talk about their new blog, International Relations Today. Jayne Peake provides details of next week's events. Presented by Charlie de Rivaz (current MA student in Conflict, Security and Development). To hear the full lecture given by Sarah and Albert on the CAR go to the 'Events' section here on the War Studies Soundcloud. DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

The Department of War Studies was delighted to host Sir John Sawers, former Chief of MI6 and Visiting Professor in the Department of War Studies, at the 2015 Annual Lecture, held on 16 February. Addressing a packed lecture theatre, Sir John offered a rare insight into decades of service for the British diplomatic and intelligence services, and the ongoing battle for ‘shared value and order’ in an increasingly unstable global landscape. Sir John Sawers is Chairman and Partner of Macro Advisory Partners. Sir John joins Macro Advisory Partners after completing his five-year tenure as Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) in November 2014. Prior to joining SIS he was the UK’s Permanent Representative (Ambassador) to the United Nations (2007-2009), Political Director of the Foreign Office (2003-2007), Special Representative in Iraq (2003), Ambassador to Cairo (2001-2003) and Foreign Policy Adviser to the Prime Minister (1999-2001). Sir John’s other positions have included Principal Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary and postings in Washington, Pretoria, Damascus and Sana'a. DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.