War Studies

Prof @ShirazMaher and Johanna Innes won the 2026 SSPP Impact Prize for work on evidence-based responses to the detention in Syria of tens of thousands of women, children and men associated with ISIS. Watch now: bit.ly/4wAhuX1

From Seablindness to Spaceblindness 🌊 Drawing on 20 years of research, Dr James WE Smith examines the rise of 'spaceblindness' and explores what maritime strategy can teach us about securing an increasingly space-dependent world. 🔗: kcl.ac.uk/from-seablindn…

From #Seablindness to #Spaceblindness What if the greatest challenge facing space strategy today is not technology—but understanding? In this paper, I build on the concept of seablindness—a term I developed and defined to explain the strategic consequences of maritime neglect—and argue that its logic extends into the space domain. Spaceblindness is not a new phenomenon, but the evolution of the same underlying strategic failure: the inability to recognise the importance of an emerging domain before events force us to do so. By connecting the lessons of seapower with the realities of space power, I argue that history offers more than context—it provides a framework for understanding future strategic competition. The challenge has changed, but the need for strategic thinking has not. Bringing together themes from defence organisation, maritime strategy, applied history, strategic education and space power, this article reflects how my research has evolved from the sea to space while remaining rooted in the same central question: how do nations learn to think about strategy and to act strategically? Read the paper: jameswesmith.space/p/from-seablin…

🌍 Security challenges are evolving rapidly. Our International Security and Policy MA equips professionals with the leadership & analytical skills to help shape security policy. Delivered through @SecDefencePLuS with @KingsCollegeLon, @ASU & UNSW. 🔍 bit.ly/4fecNdV

Dr Geraint Hughes writes in @ConversationUK on the shift from post-Cold War confidence to renewed concern over Russia, NATO, defence spending and the prospect of major war in Europe. Read: bit.ly/4fQ3MJo #Defence #NATO #WarStudies

In a letter to the @FT, Dr Benjamin Kienzle (@KienzleCSSS) argues: "international co-operation on AI should build less on insights from safety regulation and more on those from hard security, in particular weapons of mass destruction." Read more: bit.ly/4pCmx6t

🌍 Security challenges are evolving rapidly. Our International Security and Policy MA equips professionals with the leadership & analytical skills to help shape security policy. Delivered through @SecDefencePLuS with @KingsCollegeLon, @ASU & UNSW. 🔍 bit.ly/4fecNdV

Dr Inna Rudolf (@inna_veleva) comments in @Outlookindia on Baghdad’s difficult balancing act between Washington and Tehran — and warns of “a thousand small escalations that hollow out Iraq’s sovereignty.” Read more: bit.ly/44vABoG #Iraq #Iran #WarStudies

A “credible, high-risk pattern that warrants a review.” Dr Lukasz Olejnik comments in @IrishTimes on password-management software used by Irish State agencies, raising questions about software supply-chain risk and trust in sensitive digital tools. Read: bit.ly/4wP6N2o

@DrRGeistPinfold joined ABC Radio to discuss the latest escalation between the US and Iran. As hostilities intensify, they discuss Tehran’s aims, the impact on Gulf states and whether escalation is being used to shape future negotiations. Listen: bit.ly/4gITdce

Dr Ben Soodavar says effective deterrence presumes an adversary weighing what it stands to lose. But against a regime that believes it has already lost, each strike simply deepens the deficit it is gambling to recover. 🔗: ow.ly/l33U50ZnGxN

Before England's World Cup semi-final against Argentina, Dr Eleonora Natale spoke about why memories of the Falklands/Malvinas War continue to shape one of international football's most politically charged rivalries. 🔗Read more: ow.ly/CBcl50Zob3y

Dr William Reynolds (@Anglo_Japan45) examines the gap between the UK’s defence ambitions and the resources available to deliver them, exploring questions around the Defence Investment Plan, strategic priorities and the UK’s role within #NATO. 🔗bit.ly/44wBnSh

🎙️Hosts Rupert Lane & Nick Denning are joined by our alumna, Dr Tiania Stevens, who shares her experiences as an embedded journalist in #Iraq and #Afghanistan. 🎧Listen ☁️ bit.ly/3RaF39m 🟢 bit.ly/4wKcXkn 🍎 bit.ly/4w5l8I3 ▶️ bit.ly/4f33vCD

SPOTLIGHT: Rajan Basra’s (@rajanbasra) SSPP Impact Prize-winning work develops open-source methods to support investigations into online extremism, organised crime and the threat posed by 3D-printed firearms. Watch: bit.ly/4w0wcGb

“Dysfunctional, hypocritical, exhausted, divided.” Dr Lukasz Olejnik (@lukOlejnik) comments in @theipaper on how Russian influence operations exploit divisive issues, including immigration, to weaken the UK. Read: bit.ly/4wGdXG8

🌍 Security challenges are evolving rapidly. Our International Security and Policy MA equips professionals with the leadership & analytical skills to help shape security policy. Delivered through @SecDefencePLuS with @KingsCollegeLon, @ASU & UNSW. 🔍 bit.ly/4fecNdV

"Two scenarios now present themselves and, in both, the Strait of Hormuz decides the outcome." In @ConversationUK, Ben Soodavar argues that the Washington-Tehran agreement did not resolve the conflict’s contradictions, but locked them in. Read: bit.ly/4wvygWE

“Global from the ground upwards.” In his new book "Collapse," Jonathan Fennell (@jonathanfennell) challenges familiar accounts of the Second World War as a European conflict that spread outward. Read the review in The Spectator: bit.ly/4pgE6Jh

Where is the Indo-Pacific’s westernmost frontier? Samir Puri (@purisamir1) argues that Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the wider region are increasingly central to Asian geopolitics and maritime competition. Read: bit.ly/4vVYWQF