War Studies

First event of the War Crimes Spring Term Seminar Series (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/series/war-crimes-spring-term-seminar-series).

Speaker: Professor Mark Drumbl - Class of 1975 Alumni Professor at Washington & Lee University, School of Law, where he also serves as Director of the Transnational Law Institute. He has held visiting appointments with a number of law faculties, including Oxford, Paris II (Pantheon-Assas), Trinity College, Dublin, Melbourne, Monash, and Ottawa. His scholarly interests include public international law, international criminal justice, and transnational legal process.

Dr John Ferris gave this year's Saki and Michael Dockrill Memorial Lecture on the nature of "diplomatic intelligence" and the question of how diplomatic historians have used it.

This event took place on 28 November 2019 https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/saki-and-michael-dockrill-memorial-lecture-diplomatic-intelligence

For this episode of the War Studies podcast we spoke with Peter Neumann about his recent book 'Bluster: Donald Trump's War on Terror'

About the book:

Donald Trump promised to defeat terrorism, but there is no easy way to make sense of his war on terror. Is it a genuine strategic shift from previous administrations? Or is it all bluster, a way to score points with his base?

Hamstrung by his administration’s weakness, Trump hasn’t actually changed much about counterterrorism. What is different is the ideological agenda—excessively militaristic and short-sighted. Foreign alliances have deteriorated, right-wing extremists feel emboldened, and the US no longer seems like a multi-cultural haven. So what is it all for?

Peter R. Neumann argues that Trump’s war on terror looks strong and powerful in the short term, but will cause damage over time. Trump's self-serving approach has failed on its own terms, made the world less safe, and undermined the US’ greatest asset—the very idea of America.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1787381897/

Britain, the Iraq War and legal investigations of War Crimes: We talked about this with Dr Thomas Obel Hansen, Lecturer in Law at the University of Ulster after he gave a paper here in London in March 2019.

What is fake News? And how can it influence war and conflict? We talked about this with Dr Martin Moore, Senior Lecturer in Political Communication and Director of the Centre for the Study of Media, Communication and Power at King’s College London. The interview was recorded in March 2019.

In episode 4 of our ‘Experts’ series, we explore the use of new and social media in the so-called ‘Jasmine Revolution’ protests in China in 2011 and talk to Professor Kerry Brown, the Director of King’s College’s Lau China Institute. The interview was recorded in March 2019.

On 9 November 1989 the Berlin Wall was torn down by crowds from both East and West Germany, defining the end of an era not only for Germans but for the world. This week on the War Studies Podcast, we sit down with Dr Barbara Zanchetta, a Cold War historian in the War Studies Department, to discuss the significance of this anniversary.

Event highlight: Africa Week at King's College London

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/series/africa-week-2019

In the second episode of our new podcast series called ‘experts’, we investigate how so-called ‘Islamic State’ uses music as propaganda. Our expert Charlie Winter is Senior Research Fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation. Like all podcasts in this series, this episode is produced by Department of War Studies students who took the module ‘New Wars, New Media, New Journalism’. This module is convened by Dr Peter Busch who is also presenting this episode. The interview with Charlie was recorded in March 2019.

In the second episode of our new podcast series called ‘experts’, we investigate new media technology affect open source intelligence gathering and we ask what the (ethical) limitations should be. Our expert on this is Dr Huw Dylan who is a senior lecturer in the Department of War Studies. Like all podcasts in this series, this episode is produced by Department of War Studies students who took the module ‘New Wars, New Media, New Journalism’. This module is convened by Dr Peter Busch who is also presenting this episode. The interview with Dr Dylan was recorded in March 2019.

In the first of our new podcast series called ‘experts’, we investigate how terrorist attacks by lone actors are framed in the media. Our expert on this is Dr Julia Pearce who is a lecturer in the Department of War Studies. Like all podcasts in this series, it is produced by Department of War Studies students who took the module ‘New Wars, New Media, New Journalism’. This module is convened by Dr Peter Busch who is also presented this episode. The interview with Dr Pearce was recorded in March 2019.