Using International Political Economy to Learn about Unknowns in Security Studies

This post is the first in an ongoing series showcasing interdisciplinary research in the Defence Studies Department. Amir Magdy Kamel  The former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld famously talked about ‘known knowns’ and consequently ‘unknown unknowns’ in 2002. The Department of Defense press briefing came when Rumsfeld was quizzed on the lack of WMD… Read More Using International Political Economy to Learn about Unknowns in Security Studies

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Military Involvement in Post-Conflict Peace Negotiations

Miranda Melcher There is a wealth of literature on the best methods to achieve buy-in among key stakeholders in post-civil conflict peace negotiations. Rothchild (1995), Kingma (1997), and Gutteridge (1962) all argue that agreeing specifics, particularly with regards to security issues (Hartzell 1999, Rothchild 2002, Jarstad and Nilsson 2008), is key to ensuring a treaty… Read More Military Involvement in Post-Conflict Peace Negotiations

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Britain’s National Space Council: Putting the ‘bloody Union Jack’ on top of spacepower?

Dr. Bleddyn Bowen This is a re-post from SpaceWatch.Global, a digital magazine and portal for those interested in space, where Dr. Bowen has a regular column. At the recent UK Space Conference in Wales it was announced (again) that the UK Government will set up a National Space Council (NSpC), having first signalled that intent… Read More Britain’s National Space Council: Putting the ‘bloody Union Jack’ on top of spacepower?

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The Invisible Hand of Military Merger: Organisational Culture in Kurdistan

Verena Gruber Civil wars have been an increasingly frequent occurrence since 1989. The most significant difference to “regular”, inter-state conflicts is that in civil wars solutions to both war and peace must be found within the confinement of predetermined geographical borders. Separatism is rarely a solution, because the international community currently stresses sovereign territory as… Read More The Invisible Hand of Military Merger: Organisational Culture in Kurdistan

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Fledgings of the Third Reich: The National Socialist Flyers Corps

VICTORIA TAYLOR Victoria Taylor is an aviation historian based at the University of Hull and Sheffield Hallam University. Her ongoing PhD research focusses on the interwar and wartime relationship between the Luftwaffe and National Socialism in the Third Reich. ‘The work of the National Socialist Flyers Corps is bearing its fruits for the benefit of… Read More Fledgings of the Third Reich: The National Socialist Flyers Corps

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UK Defence’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Landscape: is More Effort Required?

STUART MACCRIMMON Stuart is a British Royal Marines officer studying a Masters by Research degree while attending the UK Defence Academy’s Advanced Command and Staff Course. His research has examined how human-machine teaming can deliver operational success, focussing on coherent approaches to technology, people and processes. His first in a series of three blogs questions… Read More UK Defence’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Landscape: is More Effort Required?

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Brexit, European security and defence: three assumptions, three realities

DR BEN KIENZLE The referendum to leave the EU has created a situation of high uncertainty. In such a situation, policy-makers and pundits alike tend to work with a set of assumptions to make the uncertainty more manageable. The area of security and defence has been seen as one of the least controversial issues during… Read More Brexit, European security and defence: three assumptions, three realities

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Territorial Withdrawal as Multilateral Bargaining: Revisiting Israel’s ‘Unilateral’ Withdrawals from Gaza and Southern Lebanon

ROB GEIST PINFOLD Dr. Rob Geist Pinfold is a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the University of Haifa and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London The research area of territorial withdrawal continues to polarise scholars. Theorists are irreconcilably divided regarding questions of agency: is withdrawal primarily affected by the global… Read More Territorial Withdrawal as Multilateral Bargaining: Revisiting Israel’s ‘Unilateral’ Withdrawals from Gaza and Southern Lebanon

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Embracing failure to find winning formulas

ALI RUSSELL-BROOKES Ali Russell-Brookes is a Royal Air Force Officer and student on the Advanced Command and Staff Course. She is studying for a Masters by Research with King’s College London, examining the implications on leadership for the Future Force. Using failure in the pursuit of success seems a little oxymoronic when you think about… Read More Embracing failure to find winning formulas

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