Dr Christopher Kinsey, Defence Studies Department, & Ronald Ti, PhD candidate, Wars Studies Department, King’s College London Cargo cults exist to this day in the South-West Pacific. They arose following World War Two after vast quantities of materiel were left by the departing Allied forces. The belief sprang up that more of this vast wealth… Read More The UK Integrated Review and security sector innovation: a ‘Cargo Cult’?

Dr Christian Tripodi, Defence Studies Department, King’s College London Recent events in Afghanistan brings to the fore some sobering considerations for Western policymakers. From whether the move will be interpreted by the West’s strategic adversaries as a display of weakness rather than ruthlessness; the extent that the new Taliban regime may now play host to… Read More The Integrated Review, failing states, and why persistent problems persist

Christopher Kinsey, Defence Studies Department, and Bob Parr, PhD student at King’s College London and a 25-year veteran of UK Special Forces Images of appalling violence and humanitarian distress surrounding the recently completed crisis evacuations from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul have brought into sharp relief the failure of the Afghan Armed Forces to… Read More Governments and Mercenaries: A New Era of Cooperation after Afghanistan?

Dr Zeno Leoni, Defence Studies Department The Communist Party of China (CPC) will be celebrating its 100th birthday on July 1, 2021. It is an anniversary that comes at a very symbolic moment. Ironically, just as the international campaign for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to change course from state capitalism to a free-market… Read More Why there is much to celebrate as the Communist Party of China turns 100

Dr Tim Benbow, Defence Studies Department There has long been a tendency to understate and misunderstand the role of the Royal Navy’s capital ships in the Second World War.  A few years ago, I wrote an article (naturally with an associated blog on Defence in Depth) that explored the role of aircraft carriers in supporting… Read More Battleships, D-Day and Naval Strategy

Dr Frank Foley, Department of War Studies, King’s College London The UK looked set to undermine the international prohibition against torture, but stiff opposition, including from former senior officers and prominent defence figures, forced a change.  The UK’s Overseas Operations Bill passed into law at the end of April following a long debate on whether… Read More Britain’s U-turn on torture – how defence figures defended human rights

Wing Commander Phil Holdcroft, Defence Studies Department MA Student “Reflecting on 18 years’ service as an officer and helicopter pilot, I don’t believe I’ve ever formally received dedicated psychological resilience training. Furthermore, I don’t think I’m in the minority. I’m not for a moment suggesting that the rigours of aircrew selection, pressures of flying training,… Read More Psychological Resilience — the missing golden thread?

Chris Tuck, Defence Studies Department, King’s College London Joint Concept Note 1/20 (JCN 1/20), Multi-Domain Integration is the UK military’s conceptual response to perceived changes in the character of conflict. This document discusses, of course, this relatively new notion of multi-domain integration (MDI). This is a concept that is explicitly experimental, but it seems, at… Read More What is Multi-Domain Integration?

Professor Martin Bricknell, Dr Mohamed Gad, Dr Chiuyi Lin and Professor Christoph Meyer 1 The COVID pandemic has been the dominant issue for national governments and international organisations over the past year. Whilst originating as a threat to health, it has had implications across most ministries (health, economics, education, internal affairs, diplomacy, defence etc) and… Read More A Typology for Civil-Military Medical Co-Operation during the Covid Crisis

Dr Mark Hilborne, Defence Studies Department, King’s College London China’s successful launch today of the first section of China’s new modular space station, called Tianhe (‘Harmony of the Heavens’) has again highlighted the pace of the country’s space programme. As the latest in a string of recent mission successes, it has inevitably led to warnings… Read More China’s space programme: a rising star, a rising challenge