The Department of War Studies, King's College London, focuses on promoting understanding of war, conflict and international security. The podcasts highlight the department's research and teaching activities. They also cover events the department organises for its students and the public. DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in these podcasts are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Podcast

War Studies

Description

Cyber operations are becoming increasingly important in contemporary statecraft, as they provide new means through which states may threaten or act against one another. The cases of Estonia, Saudi Aradia, Iran, and the 2016 US Presidential elections demonstrate that cyber operations can be used to compromise critical infrastructure, damage economies, undermine democracy, and can even amount to formal state conflict. However, according to Dr. Brandon Valeriano, "cyberconflict", defined as the use of computational means for malicious or destructive purposes in order to influence diplomatic or military interactions, has not necessarily opened a door to new conflicts in the international system. His research also provides that cyberconflict is neither as frequent or damaging as other forms of conflict. 

How does cyberconflict fit into the continuation of international rivalries and conflicts today? 

In this edition of the War Studies Podcast, we are going to dive into the domain of Cyberconflict with Dr. Brandon Valeriano, the Donald Ben Chair of Armed Politics at the Marine Corps University, and Dr. Tim Stevens, Lecturer in Global Security in the Dept. of War Studies and Convenor of the Cyber Security Research Group.  

If you are interested in learning more about this topic, check out our recording of Dr. Brandon Valeriano's lecture, "Cyber Strategy: The Evolution of Cyber Power and Coercion."

Podcast: Cyber Conflict with Brandon Valeriano and Tim Stevens

Date of recording: 24/09/2018

Description:

On the 24th of September, the Department of War Studies and the Conflict, Security and Development Research Group welcomed Jeff Colgan, Associate Professor at Brown University, for his talk titled, 'Should the US withdraw from the Middle East.' 

According to Prof. Colgan, ‘over the past 25 years, US foreign policy outcomes in the Middle East have gone from more or less acceptable to downright awful.’ Arguably, the most notable US foreign policy failure in the region was the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, but to this day, US success in the Middle East is further challenged by complex conflicts, including those in Afghanistan and Syria, and is also impacted by the presence of terrorist organizations within Middle Eastern states faced with instability. Due to undesirable and costly outcomes in the past, many in Washington DC have contemplated whether the US should withdraw from the Middle East. However, if the US were to withdraw, this decision could not only impact US national interests but also have security consequences for the Middle East.

Bio: 

Jeff Colgan is the Richard Holbrooke Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Watson Institute for Public and International Affairs at Brown University. His research focuses on international order, especially as related to energy and the environment. His book, Petro-Aggression: When Oil Causes War, was published in 2013 by Cambridge University Press. He has published work in International Organization, Foreign Affairs, World Politics, International Security and elsewhere. He also occasionally blogs at the Monkey Cage and Foreign Affairs. On Twitter, he is @JeffDColgan. Prof. Colgan previously taught at the School of International Service of American University 2010-2014, and was a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC in 2012-13. He completed his Ph.D. at Princeton University, and was a Canada-US Fulbright Scholar at UC Berkeley, where he earned a Master’s in Public Policy. Prof. Colgan has worked with the World Bank, McKinsey & Company, and The Brattle Group.
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For more news and information on upcoming events, please visit our website at kcl.ac.uk/warstudies.

Event: Should the US withdraw from the Middle East?

Date of recording: 17/10/2018

Abstract: Are nuclear arsenals safe from cyber-attack? Could terrorists launch a nuclear weapon through hacking? Are we standing at the edge of a major technological challenge to global nuclear order? These are among the many pressing security questions addressed in Andrew Futter's ground-breaking study of the cyber threat to nuclear weapons. Hacking the Bomb provides the first ever comprehensive assessment of this worrying and little-understood strategic development, and it explains how myriad new cyber challenges will impact the way that the world thinks about and manages the ultimate weapon. The book cuts through the hype surrounding the cyber phenomenon and provides a framework through which to understand and proactively address the implications of the emerging cyber-nuclear nexus. It does this by tracing the cyber challenge right across the nuclear weapons enterprise, explains the important differences between types of cyber threats, and unpacks how cyber capabilities will impact strategic thinking, nuclear balances, deterrence thinking, and crisis management. The book makes the case for restraint in the cyber realm when it comes to nuclear weapons given the considerable risks of commingling weapons of mass disruption with weapons of mass destruction, and argues against establishing a dangerous norm of "hacking the bomb." 

Biography: Andrew Futter is an associate professor and Director of Research in the School of History, Politics, and International Relations at the University of Leicester. He is the author of The Politics of Nuclear Weapons and Ballistic Missile Defence and US National Security Policy, the editor of The United Kingdom and the Future of Nuclear Weapons, and co-editor of Reassessing the Revolution in Military Affairs.
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For more news and information on upcoming events, please visit our website at kcl.ac.uk/warstudies.

Event: Hacking the Bomb

Date of publication: 26/10/2018

Description: Since the year 2000, the UN Security Council has adopted 8 resolutions which make up what is known as the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda. These resolutions work to promote gender equality and strengthen women’s rights, protections, and participation in mending conflict-torn societies. The first of these historic UNSC resolutions, 1325, provides a political framework that outlines how women and gender perspectives are crucial for negotiating sustainable peace, planning refugee camps, implementing peacekeeping operations, and recovering conflict-torn societies. The advent of the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda has been followed by a growing emphasis on the need to ‘mainstream’ gender into the institutions that govern and practice war and conflict management. Additionally, universities are seen to be increasingly incorporating more feminist teaching, courses and programmes on gender and Int’l relations in response to student demand. 

As the need for gender education and perspectives are increasingly emphasized and understood in the realm of conflict and security, how are military and academic institutions following through on the need to diversify training and teaching practices?

To help us delve into this question, we are first going to hear from Dr. Hannah Partis-Jennings, Lecturer at Loughborough University, and Dr. Katharine Wright, Lecturer at Newcastle University, who I interviewed the day before they co-convened a BISA Gendering IR Working Group workshop at KCL titled, Training, Teaching and Learning Gender in War and Militarism. 

Then, to conclude this podcast, we are going to welcome Dr. Amanda Chisolm who is a new Senior Lecturer and the Diversity and Inclusion lead in the School of Security Studies at KCL for a discussion on the importance of teaching and learning on gender in the context of Security Studies.
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This podcast was produced by Kirk Allen.

Podcast: Learning and Teaching Gender In War and Militarism

Date of Recording: 15/10/2018

Description: Three recently retired top military leaders debate key security issues from North Korean brinkmanship to Cross Strait relations and China's rise as a maritime power.

Speakers:

- Admiral Chen Yeong-Kang, former Chief of Staff of the Republic of China's Navy and former President of the National Defence University

- Admiral Tomohasi Takei, International Fellow with the US Naval War College and former Chief of Staff of the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force

- Admiral Scott Swift, MIT Center for International Studies Robert E. Wilhelm Fellow and former Commander of the US Pacific Fleet

Chair:

- Alessio Patalano, Reader in East Asian Warfare & Security at the Department of War Studies
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For more news and information on upcoming events, please visit our website at KCL.AC.UK/WarStudies or follow us on Twitter.

Event: Three Admirals on The Indo-Pacific in the Age of Competition

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.
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A podcast with Bettina Renz and Natasha Kuhrt will be released next Friday (7 December 2018)
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For more news and information on upcoming events, please visit our website at KCL.AC.UK/WARSTUDIES.

Event: Russia's Military Revival

We have a report on right-wing 'radicalisation' on platforms like 4chan with insights from our colleague Dr Thomas Colley. We also talk to Sanjana Balu, the department's student experience and outreach officer. Adam caught up with two students and asked them about adapting to study from home. Presented by Adam Beswick, Dr Peter Busch and Sally Horspool.

Podcast: student experience / report on 4chan and 'radicalisation'

In this episode of our War Studies 'at home' series we talk to IR student Aanvi who organised a visit to the EU and January (see also her blogpost: https://kingsthinktank.com/2020/02/07/eu-brussels-visit/#more-2951
Dr Matt Moran, co-director of the Department's Centre for Science and Security talks about his research on Open Source Intelligence and Big Data (his article: with C Hobbs and C Eldridge: ‘Fusing algorithms and analysts’: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02684527.2017.1406677
And Adam tells us more about his Instagram story (the department on Instagram: kcl_warstudies). Presented by Adam Beswick, Peter Busch, Sally Horspool

Podcast: OSINT analysts and algorithms /DWS students at EU Brexit vote/ DWS on Instagram

Dr Rudra Chaudhuri, Director of Carnegie India and Senior Lecturer in the department joins us from Delhi and gives his insights on the COVID-19 crisis in India. Find out more on https://carnegieindia.org
And third-year students Kleber and Cassy talk about a student trip to Second World War battlefields in Italy earlier this year. Presented by Adam Beswick, Peter Busch and Sally Horspool.

Podcast: India and COVID-19 / student trip to WW2 battlefields

This is the part 1 of a 2 part special podcast series produced by BA IR students Julia Thommessen and Adam Beswick. In these podcasts King's students discuss different perspectives on COVID-19 and share their experiences. And as an Easter bonus: Sally shares her blueberry muffin recipe. Hosted by Adam Beswick, Peter Busch and Sally Horspool.

Podcast: Perspectives on COVID-19 (part one)

This is the part 2 of a 2 part special podcast series produced by BA IR students Julia Thommessen and Adam Beswick. In these podcasts King's students discuss different perspectives on COVID-19 and share their experiences. And as an Easter bonus: Sally shares her blueberry muffin recipe. Hosted by Adam Beswick, Peter Busch and Sally Horspool.

Podcast: Perspectives on COVID-19 (part two)

Welcome to the War Studies podcast. We bring you world-leading research from the School of Security Studies at King’s College London, the largest community of scholars in the world dedicated to the study of all aspects of security, defence and international relations. We aim to explore the complex realm of conflict and uncover the challenges at the heart of navigating world affairs and diplomatic relations, because we believe the study of war is fundamental to understanding the world we live in and the world we want to live in.

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DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in these podcasts are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.