War Studies

Sarah Covington is the lead analyst on the Central African Republic for the Country Risk Team at IHS Country Risk, a specialist intelligence unit that forecasts political and violent risks worldwide. Albert Caramés is an associate researcher at the Groupe de Rechercheet Information pour la Paix (GRIP). He has worked for for the United Nations and for Médecins Sans Frontières in their head offices as well as on location in Côte d’Ivoire, Congo-Brazzaville and the Central African Republic. On 18 February Sarah and Albert came to the Department of War Studies to give a talk about ‘War & Peace in the Central African Republic'. The event was hosted by the Africa Research Group. DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Dr Natasha Kuhrt, Lecturer in the department, gives an assessment of the Ukraine ceasefire deal. Professor Richard Caplan (University of Oxford) talks to MA student Charlie de Rivaz about the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). Jayne Peake provides details of next week's events. Presented by Dr Peter Busch DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Doctoral candidates presented their preliminary findings at the department's postgraduate research conference at Cumberland Lodge in Great Windsor Park. We talked to three students: Sarah Soliman (supervised by Dr John Stone) works on how the US military uses Biometrics. Henry Redwood (supervised by Dr Rachel Kerr and Professor James Gow)works on the International Criminal Tribunal in Rwanda. Reyhaneh Noshiravani (supervised by Professor Michael Kerr)studies US – Iranian relations in the Nixon era. Jayne Peake provides details of next week's events. Presented by Dr Peter Busch DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Richard Caplan is Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford. He has also been a Specialist-Advisor to the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs in the UK House of Commons; a Research Associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Editor of World Policy Journal, and New York Director of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR). On 9 February 2015 Professor Caplan came to the Department of War Studies to give a talk on ‘Responsibility to Protect: Old Wine in New Bottles?’. The event was part of the CSD Seminar series. DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Dr Annette Idler teaches at the University of Oxford and is also a Research Associate at the Graduate Institute Geneva’s Centre on Conflict, Development and Peace-building, as well as a Research Fellow on peace communities in Colombia’s borderlands with the University FLACSO, Ecuador. Annette has recently completed her doctoral thesis at the Department of International Development at St. Antony's College, Oxford. As part of her research she conducted extensive fieldwork in Colombia’s crisis-affected borderlands. On 19 January 2015 she came to the Department of War Studies at King’s to give a talk on ‘Violence, Fear or Uncertainty? Fragile Alliances among Colombian Violent Non-state Actors - Rebels, Paramilitaries and Drug traffickers’. DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Keith Krause, Professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, talks about complex processes and difficult comparisons between different kinds of political violence. Dr Annette Idler, tutor at the University of Oxford, talks about fragile alliances among Colombian violent non-state actors. Jayne Peake provides details of next week's events. Presented by Charlie de Rivaz (current MA student in Conflict, Security and Development). To hear the full lectures given by Professor Krause and Dr Idler go to the 'Events' section. DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Keith Krause is Professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland, Director of its Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding (CCDP), and Programme Director of the Small Arms Survey, an internationally-recognised research centre NGO he founded in 2001. On 3 February 2015 Professor Krause came to the Department of War Studies to deliver a talk on ‘From War to Political Violence: Complex Processes and Difficult Comparisons’. The talk was hosted by Professor Mats Berdal. DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

On 29 August 2013, the House of Commons voted against the prospect of UK military action against the Assad regime in Syria. The decision helped shape the Western approach to the Syrian crisis and marked a significant moment in British politics; raising important new questions about the constitutional basis for ‘who decides’ when Britain goes to war. On 20 January 2015 Professor John Gearson chaired a public talk by James Gray MP and Mark Lomas QC on these and other issues raised in their major new book: 'Who Takes Britain To War?' (The History Press, 2014). James Gray has been MP for North Wiltshire since 1997. A former Shadow Defence Minister (who resigned over Iraq), he is a member of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee, Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Armed Forces and the Armed Forces Parliamentary Trust. Mark Lomas was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1997 and took silk in 2003. He practiced for thirty-two years at the Common Law and Commercial Bar, specialising in professional negligence and insurance matters. The event was hosted by the Centre for Defence Studies. DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Dr Christine Cheng, Lecturer in International Relations, co-convenes the War Studies Research seminars. She talks about the idea behind it. Professor Mervyn Frost discusses his current book project (with Dr Sylvia Lechner) on mistakes and misunderstanding in International Relations. Jayne Peake speaks about next week's events. Presented by Dr Peter Busch DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.​

James Gray MP and Mark Lomas QC discuss questions about the constitutional basis for ‘who decides’ when Britain goes to war. They published a new book on this issue: Who Takes Britain To War? (The History Press, 2014) Jayne Peake and Dr Peter Busch speak next week's events. Presented by Charlie de Rivaz DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Dr Frank Foley, Lecturer in International Relations in the Department of War Studies, gives his views on French counter-terrorism and the attacks in Paris last week. Dr Foley is the author of 'Countering Terrorism in Britain and France', which was published by CUP in 2013: http://amzn.to/1zn8kxN You can also read his article in the Daily Telegraph on this: http://bit.ly/1C7gidT Jayne Peake provides information on next week's events. Presented by Dr Peter Busch DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Our naval historian Professor Andrew Lambert talks about what it means to the Canadian government to have located one of the Franklin expedition's ships in the Arctic. Dr Jörg Spieker, Lecturer in International Relations, joined the department at the beginning of the academic year. He tells us more about his research and teaching. Presented by Dr Peter Busch DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa, Charles Wallace Fellow at St. Antony's, Oxford University, talks about the Pakistan military and strategic depth in Afghanistan. Lt. General (R) Asad Durrani, former Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (1990) and former DG Military Intelligence (1988) of Pakistan, talks about Afghanistan post 2014 from a Pakistani perspective. Presented by Charlie de Rivaz (current MA student in Contemporary Security and Development) DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Vahidin Omanovic, co-founder and executive director of the Center for Peacebuilding in Sanski Most, Bosnia-Herzegovina talks about working on peace building at the grassroots level. Dr Rachel Kerr, Senior Lecturer in the Department of War Studies, talks about the role of visual media in the adjudication of international war crimes. Jayne Peake provides details of next week's events. Presented by Charlie de Rivaz (current MA student in Contemporary Security and Development) DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Current student Ville Majamaa talks about his experience studying on our BA International Relations programme. Dr Martin Barber is interview by MA student Charlie de Rivaz about his new book 'Blinded by Humanity: Inside the UN's Humanitarian Operations'. Jayne Peake provides details of next week's events. Presented by Dr Peter Busch DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.