Department of War Studies,
King's College London
Established1962
Parent institution
Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy, King's College London
Head of DepartmentMatthew Moran
Academic staff
100
Students1,000
Location
Strand, London
Websitekcl.ac.uk/warstudies

The Department of War Studies (DWS) is an academic department in the School of Security Studies within the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy at King's College London in London, United Kingdom. Along with other politics and international studies units at King's College London, it ranks amongst the top places for international relations in the world.[1] For international relations in the UK, which is taught within the War Studies Department and the Department of European & International Studies, King's ranks second nationally.[2] The department is devoted to the multi-disciplinary study of war and diplomacy within the broad remit of international relations. It remains one of the only academic departments in the world that can be described as such.[3]

Senior government officials, members of the military, diplomats, journalists, academics, and entrepreneurs are among the department's graduates. Amongst them are former Prime Minister of Jordan Marouf al-Bakhit; Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq Nickolay Mladenov, the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Tom de Bruijn and former Commandant General Royal Marines Sir Robert Fry. The department is affiliated with numerous think-tanks and foreign policy institutions.[4] It also houses numerous research institutes and centres, including the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives.

It draws much of its faculty and visiting staff from the Euro-Atlantic intelligence, defence and diplomatic communities. They include former GCHQ chief David Omand; former foreign secretary Malcom Rifkind; former British ambassador to the US Nigel Sheinwald; ex-national security advisor Mark Lyall Grant; former head of MI6 John Sawers; and former chair of the UK’s Joint Intelligence Committee Peter Ricketts.[5]

Since 2023, the Head of Department has been Matthew Moran. The Department of War Studies is located on the 6th floor of the Grade I listed King's Building on the Strand Campus of King's College London. It offers a range of undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and post-doctoral programmes and opportunities, as well as a unique three-year War Studies bachelor's degree.

History

A Department of Military Science existed at King's College London from 1848 to 1859. Military Science was subsequently approved as a subject for the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science general degrees from 1913, and was taught under the Faculty of Arts and also the Faculty of Engineering.

In 1926 the intervention of William Norton Medlicott prevented the Department of History from ridding itself of the lectureship in Military History.[6] With War Office support the Military Studies Department was established in 1926 and formed part of the Faculty of Arts, with Major General Sir Frederick Barton Maurice holding the Chair. It became known as the War Studies Department in 1943 but was discontinued in 1948, although the subject continued to be taught under the Department of Medieval and Modern History.

Following World War II, there was an initiative by senior members of University of London notably Lionel Robbins, Sir Charles Webster and Keith Hancock, to revive Military Studies at the University. In 1953, Sir Michael Howard was appointed to the Lectureship in Military Studies, and by 1962 Sir Michael was able to reinstate the Department of War Studies to offer postgraduate courses.

A Bachelor of Arts degree in War Studies was offered from 1992 onwards. The department became part of the School of Humanities in 1989 and the School of Social Science and Public Policy in 2001.[7]

In 2022 the department celebrated its 60th anniversary with a series of events.[8]

Ukraine conflict research and analysis

Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, academics from the department have played a world-leading role in providing research and commentary on the conflict.[9]

In the first 12 months of the war, staff from the department contributed expertise to 26,120 articles and news broadcasts, including syndicated articles and repeat broadcasts, for outlets such as The Financial Times, The Washington Post, The Associated Press, The Sunday Times, Newsweek, the BBC and Channel 4, among others.[10]

The department received recognition for its contribution to global understanding of the conflict from the Public Relations and Communications Association, receiving highly commended for its 'Ukraine Explained' series, which brought together over 40 essays from its academics on the crisis.[11]

In 2022, the department launched the London Defence Conference in collaboration with current affairs analysis and news site Reaction.[12] In 2023, following the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke at the conference, where he described the People's Republic of China as an "epoch defining challenge to us".[13]

Notable alumni and students

Government and politics

Prime Minister of Jordan Marouf al-Bakhit
Acting Prime Minister of Moldova Natalia Gherman

Military, security and diplomacy

Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe Sir Adrian Bradshaw
Commandant General Royal Marines Sir Robert Fry
Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe Sir Tim Radford
Commandant of RMA Sandhurst Stuart Skeates

Academia, media and business

Past and present faculty

Heads of Department
Period Head
1962–1968 Sir Michael Howard
1968–1978 Sir Laurence Martin
1978–1982 Wolf Mendl
1982–1997 Sir Lawrence Freedman
1997–2001 Christopher Dandeker
2001–2007 Brian Holden-Reid
2007–2013 Mervyn Frost
2013–2016 Theo Farrell
2016–2019 Michael Rainsborough
2019–2023 Michael Goodman
2023–today Matthew Moran

Tolstoy Cup

The Tolstoy Cup is an annual football match played between the students of the Department of War Studies at King's and the Department of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford since 1995. The rivalry between 'Peace Studies' and 'War Studies' was featured on the Financial Times list of "Great college sports rivalries".[17] The competition is named after War and Peace, the 1869 novel written by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. The "trophy" is a framed copy of the book. It is kept by the department of the current winners.

Criticism

KCL War Studies has been criticized, chiefly in the left wing press, for its close links with the British and other governments and secrecy about them. Among the more specific critiques are that it has contracts with the British Ministry of Defence that lack transparency, leading to accusations that the department is engaged in training spies.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "QS World University Rankings by Subject 2013 – Politics & International Studies". topuniversities.com. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  2. ↑ "Best UK universities for international relations – league table". the Guardian. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  3. ↑ "About War Studies | Department of War Studies | King's College London". www.kcl.ac.uk. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  4. ↑ King's College London – School of Social Science & Public Policy. Kcl.ac.uk (19 June 2013). Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  5. ↑ "People | Department of War Studies | King's College London". www.kcl.ac.uk. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  6. ↑ "Medlicott, William Norton (1900–1987), historian". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/66374. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  7. ↑ "King's College London: Department of War Studies Records". King's Collections. Archived from the original on 21 January 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  8. ↑ "War Studies at 60 | Department of War Studies | King's College London". www.kcl.ac.uk. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  9. ↑ London, King's College. "King's expertise on the war in Ukraine shared around the world". King's College London. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  10. ↑ London, King's College. "King's continued focus on the war in Ukraine". King's College London. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  11. ↑ London, King's College. "King's recognised in national awards for sharing expertise on the Ukraine War". King's College London. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  12. ↑ London, King's College. "King's and Reaction co-hosting major conference on the Defence of Europe conference". King's College London. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  13. ↑ London, King's College. ""We're not going away" Rishi Sunak warns Putin at King's conference". King's College London. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  14. ↑ "Biography of Marouf al-Bakhit". Retrieved 22 December 2008.(subscription required)
  15. ↑ "Martin Bourke". Who's Who.(subscription required)
  16. ↑ "Rose, Frank A." U.S. Department of State.
  17. ↑ Scott, Izabella (25 March 2011). "The List: Five great college sports rivalries". Financial Times. London.
  18. ↑ https://roarnews.co.uk/2022/a-look-at-kcls-relationship-with-the-ministry-of-defence/
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