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Department of War Studies, King's College London

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Department of War Studies,
King's College London
File:File:KCL War Studies logo.jpeg
Established 1962
Parent institution King's College London
Head of Department Theo Farrell
Academic staff 100
Students 1,000
Location Strand, London
Website kcl.ac.uk/warstudies

The Department of War Studies (DWS) is an academic department at King's College London based in London, United Kingdom. It ranks amongst the top departments for international relations in the world.[1] The department is devoted to the multi-disciplinary study of war and diplomacy within the broad remit of international relations.

The department's alumni includes senior government officials, military personnel, diplomats, journalists, academics and businesspeople. Amongst them are former Prime Minister of Jordan Marouf al-Bakhit; Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq Nikolay Mladenov and former Commandant General Royal Marines Sir Robert Fry. The department is affiliated with numerous think-tanks and foreign policy institutions.[2] It also houses numerous research institutes and centres, including the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives.

Since 2013, the Head of Department has been Theo Farrell, who is also the Professor of War in the Modern World. The Department of War Studies is located on the 6th floor of the King's Building on the Strand Campus of King's College London.

History[]

A Department of Military Science existed at King's College London from 1848–1859. 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.[3] 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 the 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.[4]

In 2012 the department celebrated its 50th anniversary, with a series of celebratory events to mark the occasion.[5]

Notable alumni and students[]

Maroufalbakhit

Prime Minister of Jordan Marouf al-Bakhit

Nataliagherman

Prime Minister of Moldova Natalia Gherman

Siradrianbradshaw

Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe Sir Adrian Bradshaw

Sir Robert Fry - Self Portrait

Commandant General Royal Marines Sir Robert Fry

Stuart Skeates

Commandant of RMA Sandhurst Stuart Skeates

Government and politics[]

  • Marouf al-Bakhit (PhD 1990), former Prime Minister of Jordan[6]
  • Martin Bourke (MA 1970), former Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands[7]
  • Tan Chuan-Jin (MA 1999), Singaporean Member of Parliament
  • Kayode Fayemi (PhD 1987), Ex-Governor of Ekiti State, Nigeria
  • Mark Francois (MA 1987), UK Armed Forces Minister and Conservative Member of Parliament
  • Sir Christopher Geidt (MA 1987), Private Secretary to the Sovereign (Queen Elizabeth II)
  • Natalia Gherman (MA 1999), Prime Minister of Moldova
  • John Hillen (MA 1993), former Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs
  • Dan Jarvis (MA, 2011), Labour Member of Parliament
  • Jiří Šedivý (MA 1994), Czech Defence Minister
  • Keith Simpson (MRes 1972), Conservative Member of Parliament
  • Pritam Singh (MA 2004), Singaporean Member of Parliament
  • Shaun Spiers (MA 1985), former MEP and Chief Executive of CPRE

Military, security and diplomacy[]

Academia, media and business[]

  • Ali Ansari (MA 1990), Director of the Institute for Iranian Studies
  • Ruaridh Arrow (BA 2001), journalist, writer and film-maker
  • Abdul Razak Baginda, (MA 1984), Malaysian political analyst
  • Brian Bond (MA 1962), Military historian
  • Ahron Bregman (PhD 1994), British-Israeli political scientist
  • Paula Broadwell (PhD Student), biographer of General David Petraeus
  • Matthew Bryden (PhD Student), Canadian political activist
  • Gwynne Dyer (PhD 1973), Journalist
  • Andrew Exum (PhD 2010), Middle East Scholar
  • Daniel Ford (MA 2010), Author
  • Ian Gooderson (MA, PhD), Naval historian
  • Andrew Gordon (PhD 1983), Naval historian
  • Eric Grove (MA 1971), British Naval historian
  • Rosemary Hollis (MA 1975) British political scientist
  • Sam Instone (BA 1998), Founder and current Chief Executive of AES International
  • Andrew Lambert (MA, PhD), Military historian
  • Michael A. Levi (PhD 2006), CFR Senior Fellow
  • Sophie Long (BA 1997), BBC News presenter
  • Peter R. Neumann (PhD 2002), Terrorism expert
  • Peter Paret (PhD 1960), Military historian
  • Tom Rogan (BA 2008), Journalist
  • Philip Sabin (PhD 1984), Military historian
  • Yezid Sayigh (PhD 1987), Middle East scholar
  • Gary Sheffield (PhD 1994), Military historian
  • David Stahel (MA 2000), Historian
  • Nicholas Stuart (MA 1984), Journalist
  • Geoffrey Till (PhD 1976), Maritime historian
  • Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster (BA 1996), 25th in the line to the throne
  • Kieran West (MA 2005), Olympic champion rower
  • Colin White (MA 1975), former Director of the Royal Naval Museum

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–present Theo Farrell

Tolstoy Cup[]

Main article: 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".[9] 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.

References[]

  1. ↑ "QS World University Rankings by Subject 2013 – Politics & International Studies". topuniversities.com. http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/university-subject-rankings/2013/politics. Retrieved 2014-01-17. 
  2. ↑ King's College London – School of Social Science & Public Policy. Kcl.ac.uk (2013-06-19). Retrieved on 2013-07-20.
  3. ↑ http://www.oxforddnb.com/templates/article.jsp?articleid=66374&back=
  4. ↑ "King's College London: Department of War Studies Records". King's Collections. http://www.kingscollections.org/catalogues/kclca/collection/k/10ki4655. Retrieved 2014-01-17. 
  5. ↑ "War Studies celebrates 50 years". King's College London. http://www.kcl.ac.uk/newsevents/news/newsrecords/2012/01Jan/War-Studies-celebrates-50-years.aspx. Retrieved 2014-01-18. 
  6. ↑ "Biography of Marouf al-Bakhit". http://www.globalinsight.com/Perspective/PerspectiveDetail2538.htm. Retrieved 22 December 2008. (subscription required)
  7. ↑ "Martin Bourke". Who's Who. http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U8222. (subscription required)
  8. ↑ http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/bureau/131258.htm
  9. ↑ Scott, Izabella (25 March 2011). "The List: Five great college sports rivalries". London. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/66e2c658-5664-11e0-84e9-00144feab49a.html#axzz1IAYojf3d. 

External links[]

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