War Studies

Event recording from 19th of May 2017 Dr Patricia M Lewis is the Research Director, International Security at Chatham House. Her former posts include Deputy Director and Scientist-in-Residence at the Center for Non-proliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies; Director of UNIDIR; and Director of VERTIC in London. Dr Lewis served on the 2004-6 WMD Commission chaired by Dr Hans Blix; the 2010-2011 Advisory Panel on Future Priorities of the OPCW chaired by Ambassador Rolf Ekeus; and was an adviser to the 2008-10 International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND) chaired by Gareth Evans and Yoriko Kawaguchi. She holds a BSc (Hons) in physics from Manchester University and a PhD in nuclear physics from the Birmingham University. She is a dual national of the UK and Ireland. Dr Lewis is the recipient of the American Physical Society’s 2009 Joseph A Burton Forum Award recognizing 'outstanding contributions to the public understanding or resolution of issues involving the interface of physics and society'.

Event recording from 18th of May 2017 Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman has been Professor of War Studies at King's College London since 1982, and Vice-Principal since 2003. He was educated at Whitley Bay Grammar School and the Universities of Manchester, York and Oxford. Before joining King's he held research appointments at Nuffield College Oxford, IISS and the Royal Institute of International Affairs. Elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1995. He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in 1996 and was appointed Official Historian of the Falklands Campaign in 1997. He was awarded the KCMG (Knight Commander of St Michael and St George) in 2003. He was appointed in June 2009 to serve as a member of the official inquiry into Britain and the 2003 Iraq War.

In this week’s episode, we’re bringing you exclusive interviews with participants at this year’s School of Security Studies PhD Conference. The two day conference was intended to provide an opportunity for PhD students from KCL’s War Studies and Defence Studies Departments to present on their current research and hear about the work of their peers, in a rigorous but friendly academic environment. UPCOMING EVENTS AT KING'S COLLEGE LONDON WAR ZONE FREELANCE EXHIBITION LAUNCH In the lead up to the War Zone Freelance exhibition 2017 Anne Alling and Osie Greenway will be discussing the photos displayed around the Department of War Studies, the context and their forthcoming exhibition on the battle for Mosul. 5th June 2017 (18:00-19:30) Registration URL: http://bit.ly/2rMsWyy Joshua Geltzer, an alumni of our department, was a member of President Obama’s National Security Council staff. His task was to ensure that the US used force abroad, e.g. drone strikes or commando raids, lawfully. He will give an assessment of President Trump’s failure to justify the use of force, followed by Q&A. DIGITAL ECOSYSTEMS OF REFUGEE MOBILITY How do datafied and digital relations emerge both between refugees and humanitarian organisations? Between non-state and state actors involved in the digital ecosystems? How do they transform refugees existence? Representatives from King's Centre for Digital Culture, Department of Digital Humanities and the Department of War Studies explore the social and political consequences of these developments. 8th June 2017 (09:30-17:00) Anatomy Museum (6th Floor)King's Building Strand Campus BOOK LAUNCH - ENEMIES KNOWN AND UNKNOWN McDonald's book lays bare the legal and political consequences of Washington's pursuit of militarised counterterrorism in the post-9/11 era. 21st June 2017 (18:30-20:00) War Studies Meeting Room (K6.07) This podcast was produced by Ivan Seifert.

In this week’s episode, we’re bringing you an interview with War Studies alumnus Dr Frank Ledwidge. Dr Ledwidge is currently a lecturer at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell and author of three books. His latest book is called ‘Rebel Law: Insurgents, Courts and Justice in Modern Conflict’. In this interview, Dr. Ledwidge reflects on his time at King’s College London, his career, and his latest book ‘Rebel Law’ and argues that dispute resolution is part of any society. UPCOMING EVENTS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR STUDIES THE CUTTING OUT OF THE FRENCH CORVETTE Speaker Sim Comfort - Britain feared invasion but how could the French invade if they couldn't even protect their own ships in their own harbours? The Cutting out of La Chevrette at Brest, 21 July 1801 remains one of the greatest small ship actions of all time. The action is detailed in the painting of that name by de Loutherbourg, which has secrets not before revealed! 25th May 2017 (17:15-19:00) War Studies Meeting Room (K6.07) Registration URL: bit.ly/2p3Y9OE BLITZED: DRUGS IN NAZI GERMANY Was Hitler an addict? Were his troops fighting whilst high on crystal meth? Join author Norman Ohler for discussion of his provocative new book on the use of drugs in Nazi Germany. While drugs cannot on their own explain the events of the Second World War or its outcome, Ohler shows, they change our understanding of it. Blitzed forms a crucial missing piece of the story." 31st May 2017 (12:30-14:00) Council Room (K2.29) Strand Campus GLOBALISATION, IDENTITY AND WAR In an ever more globalised world, how are changing identities influencing the world of conflict? Organised by Project for the study of 21st Century (PS21) Speakers include Mary Kaldor, Theo Farrell, Patrick Bury and Ziya Merel. 31st May 2017 (18:00-19:30) S-2.08 Strand Building Strand Campus This podcast was produced by Ivan Seifert.

Event recording from 04/05/2017 PASSCHENDAELE - A NEW HISTORY Speaker: Dr Nick Lloyd Chair: Professor Bill Philpott Hosted by the Sir Michael Howard Centre The Sir Michael Howard Centre: smhc@kcl.ac.uk Between July and November 1917, in a small corner of Belgium, more than 500,000 men were killed or maimed, gassed or drowned - and many of the bodies were never found. The Ypres offensive represents the modern impression of the First World War: splintered trees, water-filled craters, muddy shell-holes. The climax was one of the worst battles of both world wars: Passchendaele. The village fell eventually, only for the whole offensive to be called off. But, as Nick Lloyd shows, notably through previously unexamined German documents, it put the Allies nearer to a major turning point in the war than we have ever imagined. Dr Nick Lloyd FRHistS is Reader in Military & Imperial History at King's College London, based at the Joint Services Command & Staff College in Shrivenham, Wiltshire. He is the author of three books: Loos 1915 (2006); The Amritsar Massacre: The Untold Story of One Fateful Day (2011); and Hundred Days: The End of the Great War (2013). He lives with his family in Cheltenham.

Two of our undergraduate students, Mariam Japaridze and Celia Pannetier report on the recent classical concert, War & Japan: A musical journey. Interspersed with excerpts of music, they comment on the relevance of the repertoire, interview the musicians and explain why the Department of War Studies is engaging with the arts. This podcast formed part of their module on New media, new wars and new journalism within their International Relations BA Programme convened by Dr. Peter Busch. The event was hosted by the King’s Japan Programme and the Arts and Conflict Hub.

In this week’s episode, we’re bringing you a special feature with Dr Lola Frost speaking about the value of studying art in war studies. According to her, studying art is important in war studies because art can convey knowledge in a way that is not accessible to the social sciences. Dr Frost is an artist and a visiting research fellow in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. Her career as an artist spans nearly four decades working and exhibiting in South Africa and in the UK. Currently, she is teaching a 20-credit MA module on Art and War at the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. For more information about Dr Frost, visit http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/warstudies/people/lolafrost/index.aspx. UPCOMING EVENTS STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP AT NORMANDY: LESSONS ON INTELLECTUAL COURAGE Location: Anatomy Museum (6th Floor) King's Building Strand Campus Category: Conference/Seminar When: 09/05/2017 (16:00-18:00) Registration URL: http://bit.ly/2p4IKeo This event will build upon Christopher Kolenda's research on strategic leadership in Iraq and Afghanistan for his doctoral dissertation. Chris will examine the role of intellectual courage during the Normandy campaign and draw lessons for today's leaders in academia, non-profit, business, military and government sectors.  A MOST DISAGREEABLE PROBLEM: THE ROYAL NAVY AND KRIEGSMARINE AIRCRAFT CARRIERS Location: War Studies Meeting Room (K6.07) Category: Lecture When: 11/05/2017 (17:15-19:00) Registration URL http://bit.ly/2oIFTbd Speaker: Dr Marcus Faulkner, Senior Teaching Fellow in the Department of War Studies PROF NIALL BARR INAUGURAL LECTURE 'THE PRACTICE OF MILITARY HISTORY' Location: Defence Studies Department, Joint Services Command and Staff College Category: Lecture When: 09/05/2017 (17:45-19:00) Please contact our Events Officer, Danni MacDivitt by e-mail at dmacdivitt.jscsc@da.mod.uk or danielle.macdivitt@kcl.ac.uk to indicate your intentions. *Dress code is Lounge suits and female equivalent* Professor Niall Barr is Professor of Military History in the Defence Studies Department. Educated at the University of St Andrews, he has previously taught at St Andrews and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He joined the Staff College in 2000, where he teaches on a wide range of military courses, including the Higher Command and Staff Course, and conducts numerous battlefield tours and staff rides. His main research interest concerns the Anglo-American alliance in the Second World War, but he also has an enduring interest in the Scottish military tradition. His current research project concerns the role and importance of food in war. For more information, visit http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/dsd/events/eventrecords/NiallBarrIL.aspx. This podcast was produced by Ivan Seifert and Mané Grigoryan.

In this week’s episode, we explore how the public should understand and respond to risk. Dr Brooke Rogers explains how risk is understood from a practitioners point of view and how the public’s understanding may differ. In addition, Dr Rogers elaborates on the rationale behind public transport campaigns, such as ‘Run! Hide! Tell!’ and ‘See it! Say it! Sorted.’, and how these campaigns contribute to protecting public spaces. Dr Brooke Rogers is a Reader in Risk and Terror in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London and co-directer of the MA programme in Terrorism, Security and Society. She is a social psychologist interested in risk and crisis communication, perceptions of risk, and health outcomes in response to extreme event. The majority of her projects investigate public and practitioner responses to chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) terrorist incidents (i.e. Home Office, PIRATE, CIE Toolkit, PRACTICE and Deloitte). UPCOMING EVENTS AT KING’S COLLEGE LONDON THE WAR IS IN THE MOUNTAINS Judith Matloff teaches conflict reporting at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and has been writing about international affairs for 30 years. In her lecture, she explores why, despite being home to only ten percent of the world’s population, mountains are host to a strikingly disproportionate share of its conflicts. Location: Pyramid Room ( K4U.04) 4th floor Strand Campus When: 27/04/2017 (18:00-19:30) Registration URL: http://bit.ly/2nfdqtf http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/warstudies/events/eventsrecords/The-War-is-in-the-Mountains.aspx PASSCHENDAELE - A NEW HISTORY Between July and November 1917, in a small corner of Belgium, more than 500,000 men were killed or maimed, gassed or drowned - and many of the bodies were never found. The Ypres offensive represents the modern impression of the First World War: splintered trees, water-filled craters and muddy shell-holes. The climax was one of the worst battles of both world wars: Passchendaele. The village fell eventually, only for the whole offensive to be called off. But, as Nick Lloyd shows, notably through previously unexamined German documents, it put the Allies nearer to a major turning point in the war than we have ever imagined. Location: War Studies Meeting Room (K6.07) When: 04/05/2017 (17:30-19:00) Registration URL: http://bit.ly/2nDPjI1 http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/warstudies/events/eventsrecords/Passchendaele-A-New-History-Book-Launch.aspx CHOCOLATE OF PEACE Join us for a screening and discussion of 'Chocolate of Peace (Cacao Defying Violence)' with producer and co-director, Gwen Burnye-at. Chocolate of Peace depicts the Colombian Peace Community of San José de Apartadó’s experiences of resistance, via a journey through their processes of organic chocolate production. Location: Anatomy Lecture Theatre (K.6.29) Strand Campus When: 04/05/2017 (18:30-20:00) http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/warstudies/events/eventsrecords/Chocolate-of-Peace.aspx This podcast was produced by Ivan Seifert.

Event recording from 10/04/2017 STATE OF REBELLION: VIOLENCE AND INTERVENTION IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC Speaker: Louisa Lombard, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Yale. Chair: Dr Kieran Mitton, War Studies, KCL. A joint event of the Africa Research Group and the 'Approaches to Understanding Violence Seminar Series' of the Conflict, Security & Development Research Group. Join Professor Louisa Lombard as she discusses her new book 'State of Rebellion: Violence and Intervention in the Central African Republic', drawing on extensive fieldwork to challenge conventional wisdom about the causes of CAR's violent conflict. About the book: In 2012, a wave of violence swept through the Central African Republic as Seleka rebels clashed with anti-Balaka militias. In the face of seemingly senseless bloodshed, journalists, politicians, and scholars struggled to account for the conflict’s origins. In this first comprehensive account of the violence, Louisa Lombard argues that the conflict was more than a straightforward religious clash between Christians and Muslims. Instead, she traces the roots of the conflict to fears of spiritual insecurity and a social breakdown that drove inter-communal violence. Placing the uprising within its broader social, cultural, and historical context, Lombard reveals the complicated roles played by marginalized rural youths, local political leaders, and the global community in sustaining the conflict, and she offers an urgent corrective to our perceptions of this little-understood country, making a compelling case for international leaders to rethink their approach to resolving the conflict. Reviews: “This valuable, indeed important, study helps us make sense of a little-known but strategically important African country. Those who wish to know Africa today need to know this book.” - Paul Richards, author of No Peace, No War: An Anthropology of Contemporary Armed Conflicts “If you want to understand why the CAR seems a perpetual work in regress, then Lombard’s book is a must-read. Her new perspectives illuminate a neglected recess of globalization.” - Stephen W. Smith, Duke University “With a stunning combination of conceptual clarity and vivid ethnography, Louisa Lombard’s book challenges conventional wisdom on the roots of violence in the CAR. A must-read for anyone wanting to engage with current debates on peace-building and state-building initiatives.” - Marielle Debos, author of Living by the Gun in Chad “In this stimulating and provocative book, Lombard proposes a new approach to peacekeeping, peace enforcement, and humanitarian action that rests upon a politics of redistribution and acknowledgement of the social dignity of fighters lacking a state.” - Jean-François Bayart, Graduate Institute Geneva “Provides a magisterial reading of the role of violence in the making of the CAR. Authoritative, nuanced, and empirically rich, Lombard offers a new and compelling lens through which so-called state failure and post-conflict transitions can be understood.” - Michael Watts, University of California, Berkeley For more information, visit http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/warstudies/events/eventsrecords/lombard.aspx.

Event recording from 14/03/2017 LEARNED FROM THE RUSSIAN HACK: THE NEW ERA OF POLITICAL WARFARE Speaker: Dr Brandon Valeriano, Cardiff University. Brandon Valeriano (Ph.D. Vanderbilt University) has published dozens of articles and book chapters in such outlets as the Journal of Politics, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Peace Research, and International Studies Review. His two most recent books are Cyber War versus Cyber Reality at Oxford University Press (2015) and Russian Coercive Diplomacy at Palgrave (2015) with two Foreign Affairs pieces summarizing the works entitled “The Coming Cyberpeace” and “Paper Tiger Putin.” Ongoing research explores cyber coercion, external threats and video games, and arms races and arms control in cyberspace. Dr. Valeriano has written opinion and popular media pieces for such outlets as Washington Post, Slate, Foreign Affairs, Business Insider, and War on the Rocks. For more information, visit http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/warstudies/events/eventsrecords/Learned-from-the-Russian-Hack-The-New-Era-of-Political-Warfare.aspx

On Wednesday 22 March an attack was carried out on Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament where five people have died, including a police officer and the attacker. John Gearson, Professor for National Security Studies at King's College London shares his assessment about Wednesday’s event.

Joining us this week: This years inaugural lecture on the Practice of National security was run by Lord Peter Ricketts who spoke about the establishment of the UK National Security Council in 2010, as well as his appointment as the first National Security Advisor and the emergence of a national security approach in the United Kingdom. Professor of National Security Studies, and Director of the Centre for Defence Studies in the Department of War Studies at King's College London. From 2002 to 2007 he was seconded to the House of Commons where I acted as the principal defence policy adviser to the Defence Select Committee and as a Parliamentary Clerk to the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee. He has currently undertaken a new role as Interim Vice Dean (International). Upcoming Events: STATE OF REBELLION: VIOLENCE AND INTERVENTION IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC Join Professor Louisa Lombard, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Yale, as she discusses her new book 'State of Rebellion: Violence and Intervention in the Central African Republic', drawing on extensive fieldwork to challenge conventional wisdom about the causes of CAR's violent conflict. Location: War Studies Meeting Room (K. 6.07) When: 10/04/2017 (18:00-19:30) STATHIS KALVYAS - THE IMPACT OF REVOLUTIONARY ACTORS IN CIVIL WARS: THE MARXIST PARADOX Research on civil wars has neglected a key dimension of political identity, revolution, choosing to focus primarily on the distinction between ethnic and non-ethnic actors and wars. Professor Stathis Kalvyas from Yale University corrects this error by examining the impact of revolutionary socialist (RS) or Marxist-inspired rebels. To attend this event, please register at http://bit.ly/2o0Amvh. Location: Edmond J Safra Lecture Theatre (Strand Campus) When: 20/04/2017 (18:30-20:00) Registration URL http://bit.ly/2o0Amvh THE WAR IS IN THE MOUNTAINS Judith Matloff teaches conflict reporting at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and has been writing about international affairs for 30 years. In her lecture, she explores why, despite being home to only ten percent of the world’s population, mountains are host to a strikingly disproportionate share of its conflicts. Location: Pyramid Room ( K4U.04) 4th floor Strand Campus When: 27/04/2017 (18:00-19:30) Registration URL: http://bit.ly/2nfdqtf For more information visit www.kcl.ac.uk/warstudies

Will you #BeBoldForChange on International Women's Day 2017 and beyond by taking groundbreaking action that truly drives the greatest change for women? Joining us this week: In the first interview, we speak to Dr Brooke Rogers, the first psychologist at the Department of War Studies and chair of the Behavioural Science Expert Group for the Cabinet, with main research areas focussing on resilience, protecting crowded spaces and behavioural science. In the following interviews, we speak to members of Women in War and International Politics (WWIP): Ashley Pratt, Madison Estes and Farhana Akthar talking to us about their own experiences. Upcoming Events: Energy and Climate Policy between the Trump Presidency and Paris Agreement EUCERS/KAS Energy Talks 2017 7th of March 2017, 14.00 - 16.30 with a lunch upon arrival, River Room Speakers: Professor Dr Friedbert Pflüger, Director, EUCERS, King’s College London, Hans-Hartwig Blomeier, Director London Office, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung 14.20 Julian Popov, former Minister of Environment of Bulgaria, Fellow at the European Climate Foundation, Bernice Lee OBE, Executive Director, Hoffmann Centre on the Sustainable Resource Economy, Senior Fellow, Energy, Environment and Resources, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House Jonathan Gaventa, Director, E3G Dr Frank Umbach, Research Director, EUCERS, King’s College London, Daniel Scholten, Assistant Professor, CRNI Managing Editor, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology AFGHAN STUDIES GROUP 9th March 2017 (18:00-19:30) 3rd Floor Franklin Wilkins Building, Room 3.52 “The Defiant Border: The Afghan-Pakistan Borderlands” by Elizabeth Leake. "The Defiant Border" explores why the Afghan-Pakistan borderlands have remained largely independent of state controls from the colonial period into the 21st century. This book looks at local Pashtun tribes' modes for evading first British colonial, then Pakistani, governance; the ongoing border dispute between Pakistan and Afghanistan; and continuing interest in the region from Indian, US, British, and Soviet actors. LEARNED FROM THE RUSSIAN HACK: THE NEW ERA OF POLITICAL WARFARE 14th March 2017 (17:00-18:30) Pyramid Room ( K4U.04) 4th floor Strand Campus Dr Brandon Valeriano, Cardiff University will discuss ongoing research exploring cyber coercion, external threats and video games, and arms races and arms control in cyberspace. Dr. Valeriano has written opinion and popular media pieces for such outlets as Washington Post, Slate, Foreign Affairs, Business Insider, and War on the Rock. His two most recent books are Cyber War versus Cyber Reality at Oxford University Press (2015) and Russian Coercive Diplomacy at Palgrave (2015) THE PRACTICE OF NATIONAL SECURITY – INAUGRAL LECTURE OF LORD PETER RICKETTS GCMG GCVO, Visiting Professor at the Centre for Defence Studies Wednesday 15th March 2017, 18.30-20.30, Edmund J Safra. Strand Campus. RSVP here Lord Ricketts will reflect on the establishment of the UK National Security Council in 2010, as well as his appointment as the first National Security Advisor and the emergence of a national security approach in the United Kingdom. Tracing how the British Government has coordinated the different strands of its overseas policy from the Committee of Imperial Defence onwards, he will set out why he believes the creation of the National Security Council was a constitutional innovation that deserves to last, and will detail how it operated in its first years while he was the National Security Adviser. For more information, visit kcl.ac.uk/warstudies/events.

Event recording from 13/02/2017 Speaker: Dr Zoe Marks, Chancellor’s Fellow (Lecturer), Centre of African Studies and Co-Director, Global Development Academy, University of Edinburgh. Chair: Dr Kieran Mitton, CSDRG, War Studies, King's College London. Abstract: Guerrilla war requires careful coordination between rebel groups and the local population. Yet, many groups fighting for liberation and power to the people instead attack and oppress the people. In this paper, I demonstrate that the conceptual divide between violence and governance is partly an artefact of the data we have had available, and disguises the close relationship between coercion and authority in civil war. Using what has become the paradigmatic case for brutal anticivilian violence – the Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone – I trace the processes by which violent norms and institutions were created within the rebel group and evolved over time. The analysis achieves two things. First, it shows that rationalist theories of individual ‘opportunism’ have limited explanatory value unless tied to the policies, power structures, and processes of the organization itself. I explain the relationship between violent norms and behavior through a framework of sociological institutionalism. Second, I examine the link between violence, governance, and military strategy, the latter of which has often been obscured in recent studies of civil war. Incorporating strategic choices made at the organizational level helps explain change over time in patterns of violence. Speaker Profile: Zoe Marks is a Chancellor’s Fellow and Lecturer in the Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh, where she is Director of the MSc in African Studies. Her research focuses on conflict and civil war, armed groups, gender relations, and post-conflict development. Her work examines the internal dynamics of rebellion and the post-conflict trajectories of ex-combatants. Her gender-related research focuses on sexual violence, the role of women in armed groups, female power brokers, and understanding victimhood and survival in social context. She is lead author and co-investigator on the ESRC-DFID Poverty Alleviation Research project 'Poverty and Conflict', which tracks social capital and economic survival during and after war through surveys, social network analysis, and qualitative research in DR Congo, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Dr Marks is also leading two projects under the DFID-funded Political Settlements Research Programme: one on the inclusion of armed actors in post-conflict political settlements; and one on women's peace activism in conflict contexts. Dr Marks received her DPhil in Politics from the University of Oxford and MSc in African Studies (also from Oxford); she holds a BA in Government and African American Studies from Georgetown University. Her work has appeared in African Affairs, Civil Wars, the Journal of Modern African Studies, and edited volumes; she is on the editorial board for Critical African Studies. The 'Approaches to Understanding Violence Seminar Series' is a programme of multidisciplinary lectures and events on the subject of violence, part of a CSDRG project led by Dr Kieran Mitton. Find out more here: www.kcl.ac.uk/csd. To sign-up to our mailing list simply send a blank email to: csdrg-join@kcl.ac.uk For more information, visit http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/warstudies/events/eventsrecords/marks.aspx.

Event recording from 07/02/2017 at King's College London. The Geopolitics of American Empire: A view from the 1940s Speaker: Dr Or Rosenboim, University of Cambridge Did visions of empire shape the rise of the United States to world power? In this presentation, Or Rosenboim discusses the history of Geopolitics in the United States and sheds light on two main figures in the field: Owen Lattimore and Nicholas J. Spykman. In the 1940s, both promoted the study of Geopolitics as central to international relations in the age of the end of empire. The paper shows how they employed geopolitical concepts to promote opposed versions of world order, in which the United States helps eradicate imperialism, or replaces Europe as the leading world empire. Or Rosenboim’s research is set in the intersection of International Relations and History. Her published work examines the history of international thought in the twentieth century, especially around the history of geopolitics, cosmopolitanism, federalism and democracy theory in Britain and the United States. She is also interested in the relationship between intellectual history and international theory. Recently, she has been writing on Italian international and geopolitical thought in the twentieth century. Her book, The emergence of globalism: Competing Visions of World Order in Britain and the United States, 1939-1950, will be published by Princeton University Press in 2017. The book is based on her doctoral research, that was awarded the Lisa Smirl prize for best dissertation (Department of Politics, Cambridge University) and co-awarded the Raymond Aron Prize 2014. For more information, visit http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/warstudies/events/eventsrecords/rosenboim.aspx.