Wednesday 6 March, 15.00
Chester Room, Nuffield College

Cyber Strategy & Technology Studies working Group

Topic:Lessons from a Case Study of Social Media Disinformation

Fireside Chat: Rutendo Chabikwa (OII)

After : Cyber Strategy Group Social (all welcome)
Location The Oxford Retreat — Pub within short walk of Nuffield

The Cyber Strategy and Tech Statecraft Group meets every Wednesday during term-time. It has a hybrid meeting format, held in person in the Chester Room at Nuffield College (in person) and on Microsoft Teams (online).

Preparatory materials will be sent in advance of the session, together with discussion questions for the session. Some background knowledge or experience of the topic is recommended but not required.

Attendance to all sessions are open to graduate students and members of the academic or policy communities. Group attendance may be limited; it is encouraged for all interested participants to contact Elisabeth (elisabeth.siegel@politics.ox.ac.uk) in advance to secure their place and receive the preparatory materials.

Tuesday 5 March, 13.30
Old Library, All Souls

AI and Machine Learning in OSINT

Sam Pearce, Fivecast

Open Source Intelligence is coming of age, after a long time spent in the shadow of more established intelligence disciplines. It’s doing so in a period of rapid technological change, including widespread adoption of Artificial Intelligence capability to enhance and augment the work of intelligence professionals.  This lecture will highlight the specific challenges for those intelligence professionals trying to derive insight from vast quantities of data – with a focus on modern social media platforms – and explain how Machine Learning and other modern technology is being harnessed for that effort.

As the Tradecraft Lead for UK and Europe, Sam helps Fivecast’s law enforcement and national security customers understand how to fuse technology with tradecraft, in order to boost the efficiency of investigators. Prior to Fivecast, Sam spent 15 years in the Australian Intelligence Community.

Seminars at 13.30, Old Library, All Souls
All are welcome, no need to book.

Monday 4 March, 17.00
Pembroke College and Online

Emerging Threats & Technology Working Group

Topic: Indo‐Pacific Crisis, Insider Threat, & Cyber‐Space Escalation

Facilitators: US-UK Practitioners, TBA to Participants

Christopher Morris runs a weekly discussion group. Please be aware that group attendance may be limited. It is required to contact Christopher (Christopher.Morris@politics.ox.ac.uk) in advance for availability. Meetings will run both in person and online.

In person location: Mary Hyde Eccles Room, Pembroke College
Online: Microsoft Teams

Illusionary Trends in Strategic Studies Seminar Series

Wednesday 28 February, 17.15
Wharton Room, All Souls College, Oxford, OX1 4AL

Strategic Wishes and What Happens Next: Assessing the UK's Integrated Reviews

Dr Maeve Ryan, KCL, & Professor Jamie Gaskarth, Open University 

In the aftermath of the 2019 election, the Boris Johnson government promised "the most radical assessment of the UK’s place in the world since the end of the Cold War.” The result was the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, published in March 2021 and updated in March 2023 by the Integrated Review “Refresh”. This paper aims to evaluate how far these texts achieved their aims so far, and with what consequences British strategic policy. It begins by exploring the contexts of the reviews, how previous iterations informed the framing, approach, evidencing and rationale, and what innovations were introduced. It then engages in a detailed investigation into how these reviews were implemented across government. In the process, we consider what the IR process suggests about the relationship between grand strategic concepts, grand strategic practice, and measuring success in real time.

Dr Maeve Ryan is a Reader in History and Foreign Policy at the Dept. Of War Studies, King’s College London, and the co-founder and co-director of the Centre for Grand Strategy and the Ax:son Johnson Institute for Statecraft and Diplomacy. 

Prof Jamie Gaskarth is Professor of Foreign Policy and International Relations at The Open University and co-Editor in Chief of Journal of Global Security Studies

Seminars at 17.15, Wharton Room, All Souls College, Oxford, OX1 4AL.
All are welcome, no need to book.

Wednesday 28 February, 15.00
Chester Room, Nuffield College

Cyber Strategy & Technology Studies working Group

Topic:“Explainable AI” & Black Boxes within Black Boxes

Working Group Discussion

The Cyber Strategy and Tech Statecraft Group meets every Wednesday during term-time. It has a hybrid meeting format, held in person in the Chester Room at Nuffield College (in person) and on Microsoft Teams (online).

Preparatory materials will be sent in advance of the session, together with discussion questions for the session. Some background knowledge or experience of the topic is recommended but not required.

Attendance to all sessions are open to graduate students and members of the academic or policy communities. Group attendance may be limited; it is encouraged for all interested participants to contact Elisabeth (elisabeth.siegel@politics.ox.ac.uk) in advance to secure their place and receive the preparatory materials.

Tuesday 27 February, 13.30
Old Library, All Souls

Book Launch: British Grand Strategy in the Age of American Hegemony

Dr William D. James, KCL and CCW

Is the United Kingdom capable of grand strategy? Common wisdom suggests otherwise. Some think it implausible amid the maelstrom of domestic politics, while others believe the UK lacks the necessary autonomy, as a cog in the US-led order.

British Grand Strategy in the Age of American Hegemony challenges these claims. Grand strategy is the highest level of national security decision-making, encompassing judgements over a state's overarching objectives and interests, as well as its security environment and resource base. Getting these decisions 'right' is vital in moments of geopolitical flux.

Employing several historical case studies between 1940-2003 and marshalling a host of primary sources, the book demonstrates that British politicians and officials have thought in grand strategic terms under American hegemony - even if they do not realise or admit to this. The book also shows that the role of allies in shaping British grand strategy has been overstated. Finally, it highlights the conditions under which domestic political actors can influence grand strategic decision-making. Written for practitioners as well as scholars, the book concludes with several policy recommendations at this inflection point in British history.

The book can be preordered here and will be on sale at the launch event. The book can be purchased at a 30% discount using the code ASFLYQ6. More information can be found here. 

Dr William D. James is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Grand Strategy at King's College London and a Senior Associate of the Oxford Changing Character of War Centre. He has previously held fellowships at MIT, Harvard, and the University of Notre Dame. William earned a DPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford. Beyond his academic publishing, he writes for outlets such as War on the Rocks and Engelsberg Ideas. William has also contributed evidence to three parliamentary inquiries on British foreign policy. In 2020, he won RUSI's Trench Gascoigne Prize for original writing on defence and security.

Seminars at 13.30, Old Library, All Souls
All are welcome, no need to book.

Monday 26 February, 17.00
Pembroke College and Online

Emerging Threats & Technology Working Group

Topic: The Ukraine War Two Years On: Lessons for Technology & Autonomy

Speaker: Rob Rider, CBE, UK Defence Attaché to Germany (2015-20)

Christopher Morris runs a weekly discussion group. Please be aware that group attendance may be limited. It is required to contact Christopher (Christopher.Morris@politics.ox.ac.uk) in advance for availability. Meetings will run both in person and online.

In person location: Mary Hyde Eccles Room, Pembroke College
Online: Microsoft Teams

Wednesday 21 February, 15.00
Chester Room, Nuffield College

Cyber Strategy & Technology Studies working Group

Topic: Mapping the State of Judicial Technology & Policy in China

Fireside Chat: Lujain Ibrahim (OII)

The Cyber Strategy and Tech Statecraft Group meets every Wednesday during term-time. It has a hybrid meeting format, held in person in the Chester Room at Nuffield College (in person) and on Microsoft Teams (online).

Preparatory materials will be sent in advance of the session, together with discussion questions for the session. Some background knowledge or experience of the topic is recommended but not required.

Attendance to all sessions are open to graduate students and members of the academic or policy communities. Group attendance may be limited; it is encouraged for all interested participants to contact Elisabeth (elisabeth.siegel@politics.ox.ac.uk) in advance to secure their place and receive the preparatory materials.

Tuesday 20 February, 13.30
Old Library, All Souls

The Russian Challenge to Europe’s Gas Supplies this Winter and Beyond

Dr Sidharth Kaushal, RUSI

Abstract will be posted shortly.

Sidharth Kaushal's research at RUSI covers the impact of technology on maritime doctrine in the 21st century and the role of sea power in a state's grand strategy.

Sidharth holds a doctorate in International Relations from the London School of Economics, where his research examined the ways in which strategic culture shapes the contours of a nation's grand strategy.

Seminars at 13.30, Old Library, All Souls
All are welcome, no need to book.

Monday 19 February, 17.00
Pembroke College and Online

Emerging Threats & Technology Working Group

Supercharging AUKUS: Advanced Capabilities, Supply Chains, & Capital

Speaker: Adrian Jones, Co-Chair, AUKUS Defence Investor Network; FCDO (2009-20)

Christopher Morris runs a weekly discussion group. Please be aware that group attendance may be limited. It is required to contact Christopher (Christopher.Morris@politics.ox.ac.uk) in advance for availability. Meetings will run both in person and online.

In person location: Mary Hyde Eccles Room, Pembroke College
Online: Microsoft Teams

Illusionary Trends in Strategic Studies Seminar Series

Wednesday 14 February, 17.15
Wharton Room, All Souls College, Oxford, OX1 4AL

'Bury them deep in the ground'; The disastrous legacies of 'expeditionary warfare', 'intervention', and 'counterinsurgency' 

Frank Ledwidge, University of Portsmouth

For much of the last forty years 'expeditionary warfare' in one form or another (e.g., humanitarian intervention, 'CT', counterinsurgency), has formed the key mission of the US, UK, and other European armed forces. These have been supported by ideas such as 'new wars' or 'wars amongst the people'.  From these ideas have flowed failed counterinsurgencies and various dubiously legal 'forever wars' being fought even now in states ruined by such 'interventions'. Their legacy has been strategic disaster and the immiseration of millions.

In whatever form, these expeditions are doomed to failure, not least because they invariably lack adequate preparation, resources, knowledge or strategic grounding. More simply, 'intervention' amounts in practical terms to 'invasion' which is rarely welcomed, to say the least. These ideas stagger on today in forms such as (for the UK) 'persistent campaigning'. The very structures of some major armed forces - designed explicitly around 'expeditionary operations' - have become highly distorted and unfit for their supposed function of national defence. We are all less secure as a consequence. 

Frank Ledwidge is senior lecturer in war studies at the University of Portsmouth, working primarily with the Royal Air Force. He is the author of 'Losing Small Wars' (Yale 2011/17), 'Investment in Blood' (Yale 2013), and 'Aerial Warfare' (Oxford 2018/20). He served as a military intelligence officer in Bosnia and Iraq and as a civilian advisor in (inter alia) Afghanistan, Libya, and Ukraine.

Seminars at 17.15, Wharton Room, All Souls College, Oxford, OX1 4AL.
All are welcome, no need to book.

Wednesday 14 February, 15.00
Chester Room, Nuffield College

Cyber Strategy & Technology Studies working Group

Topic:Supply Chain Politics for Emerging Technologies

Working Group Discussion

The Cyber Strategy and Tech Statecraft Group meets every Wednesday during term-time. It has a hybrid meeting format, held in person in the Chester Room at Nuffield College (in person) and on Microsoft Teams (online).

Preparatory materials will be sent in advance of the session, together with discussion questions for the session. Some background knowledge or experience of the topic is recommended but not required.

Attendance to all sessions are open to graduate students and members of the academic or policy communities. Group attendance may be limited; it is encouraged for all interested participants to contact Elisabeth (elisabeth.siegel@politics.ox.ac.uk) in advance to secure their place and receive the preparatory materials.

Tuesday 13 February, 13.30
Old Library, All Souls

Military Peacekeeping Mediation: A First-Hand Account from Mali

Lt. Gen. (ret.) Dr Dennis Gyllensporre, Swedish Defence University and CCW Visiting Fellow

Abstract will be posted shortly.

Lieutenant General (Ret.) Dr Dennis Gyllensporre is an Associate Professor in Security Policy and Strategy at the Swedish Defence University and an Associate Fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. He also holds office as the Vice President of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences. Gyllensporre has 38 years of service in the Swedish Armed Forces. In October 2021, he completed three years of service as the Force Commander for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). He came from a four-year appointment as the Chief of Defence Staff (VCDS in UK terminology) and Director of Special Forces of the Swedish Armed Forces. He was promoted to Lieutenant General in 2014. Gyllensporre has multifaceted credentials in international cooperation and an extensive track record in interaction with political entities. This experience spans from operations at the tactical level to scientific work in renowned journals. He was appointed the military expert to the parliamentary Defence Commission for five years. Gyllensporre has served as a staff officer in various positions, including tours abroad in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Sudan, and served as a military advisor in international crisis management at the MoD. He has also been assigned as chief of staff at the Swedish Joint Operations Command and later as head of the Doctrine and Concepts Branch at the European Union Military Staff. In 2008 he was deployed to Afghanistan as the Chief of Staff at Regional Command North of the NATO-led operation (ISAF). Subsequently, Gyllensporre has held several positions in the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters, including Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commanders staff and Head of the Policy and Plans department. He has studied at numerous military institutions and holds several academic degrees, including a Master of Science in Computer Science (Royal National Institute of Technology, Sweden), Master of Business Administration (Warwick University, United Kingdom), Master of Military Arts and Science (USA Army Command and General Staff College), as well as a PhD in Policy Analysis and Governance (Maastricht University, the Netherlands). He is the author of several books and academic articles on military strategy and security studies.

He is a recipient of the Swedish Armed Forces Medal of Merit in gold for distinguished leadership during combat and war-like situations, the French Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur, the Chevalier de l'Ordre national du Mali, and the Dwight D. Eisenhower Award (2001) for academic achievements at U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He was selected as the ‘Leader of Change 2022’ in Sweden for successful work as an adaptation manager. Gyllensporre is inaugurated to the Hall of Fame at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (2017) and the U.S. National Defense University (2022).

Seminars at 13.30, Old Library, All Souls
All are welcome, no need to book.

Monday 12 February, 17.00
Pembroke College and Online

Emerging Threats & Technology Working Group

Topic: U.S.‐China Competition, Emerging Technologies, and Alliances

Speaker: To Be Announced to Members

Christopher Morris runs a weekly discussion group. Please be aware that group attendance may be limited. It is required to contact Christopher (Christopher.Morris@politics.ox.ac.uk) in advance for availability. Meetings will run both in person and online.

In person location: Mary Hyde Eccles Room, Pembroke College
Online: Microsoft Teams

Wednesday 7 February, 15.00
Chester Room, Nuffield College

Cyber Strategy & Technology Studies working Group

Topic:Tracing transformation in Intelligence: Open-Source Intelligence and AI

Fireside Chat: Angeliki Martinou (Brunel Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies)

The Cyber Strategy and Tech Statecraft Group meets every Wednesday during term-time. It has a hybrid meeting format, held in person in the Chester Room at Nuffield College (in person) and on Microsoft Teams (online).

Preparatory materials will be sent in advance of the session, together with discussion questions for the session. Some background knowledge or experience of the topic is recommended but not required.

Attendance to all sessions are open to graduate students and members of the academic or policy communities. Group attendance may be limited; it is encouraged for all interested participants to contact Elisabeth (elisabeth.siegel@politics.ox.ac.uk) in advance to secure their place and receive the preparatory materials.

Tuesday 6 February, 13.30
Old Library, All Souls

Defence-Economic Aspects of the War in Ukraine: Russia War Economy, Economic Warfare, and Economic Costs

Professor Christopher Davis, Oxford Institute of Population Aging

The evolution and outcomes of the armed conflicts in Ukraine over the period 2014-2024 have been strongly influenced by ideological, political, and military factors. However, defence-economic developments in Russia, Ukraine, countries of the Anti-Russia Coalition (ARC), and other nations have become increasingly important since February 2022 because Russia’s ‘limited military operation’ has evolved into a major resource-intensive and attritional war that has required mobilisations of military personnel and of defence industry in the direct adversary countries and provision of large-scale military and financial support to Ukraine by the ARC. This talk will use concepts and empirical material to answer key questions concerning Russia’s economy and defence-industrial complex (DIC) and economic issues related the war in Ukraine during 20222-24. The key concepts are: (1) the Russian economic system (war economy) and the production of economic power, (2) priority protection mechanisms in the war economy, (3) the defence industrial complex and the generation of military power, (4) global and regional economic-military power balances, (5) relations between Russia and other countries (adversary, neutral, partner) and their economic impacts, (6) economic sanctions/warfare and countermeasures, and (7) economic costs of war to Russia, Ukraine, the ARC, and non-engaged countries (China, Global South).

Relevant Publications:

• Davis, C. (2024, Forthcoming) Defence-Economic Aspects of Russia’s Involvement in the War in Ukraine: Economic Systems, Defence Industrial Complexes, International Economic Relationships, Economic Warfare, and Economic Costs, Submitted to journal for review in January 2024.

• Davis, C. (2020, January) The Russian Defence Industry, 1980-2025: Systemic Change, Policies, Performance, and Prospects, Chapter in Keith Hartley (UK) and Jean Belin (France) The Economics of the Global Defence Industry (69-125), Taylor and France. ISBN: 978-1-138-60809-2
  [A pdf copy can be obtained from CCW upon individual request.]

• Davis, C. (2016) The Ukraine Conflict, Economic-Military Power Balances, and Economic Sanctions, Post-Communist Economies, Open Access at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14631377.2016.1139301

• Davis, C. (2002) The Defence Sector in the Economy of a Declining Superpower: Soviet Union and Russia, 1965-2000, Defence and Peace Economics, 13: 3, 145-177

Christopher Davis is an academic expert on the economies of Russia and East Europe, whose research has focused on the USSR/Russia and the topics of economics of health, demography (mortality trends, population ageing), industry, and defence economics. He obtained a B.A. in Applied Mathematics at Harvard University (1969) and a Ph.D. in Economics in 1980 at Cambridge University for a dissertation on The Economics of Health in the USSR. He has held tenured academic positions at the University of Birmingham (Centre for Russian and East European Studies, 1978-1991) and the University of Oxford (Economics and Area Studies/REES, 1991-2015). At present he is a Professorial Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing. He has made over 50 academic research visits to the USSR and Russia during 1974-2020, including to Moscow State University as a doctoral student on the USA-USSR exchange for the 1976-77 academic year.

In the military/defence field, Christopher studied at Harvard on an NROTC scholarship and served as an officer in the US Navy during 1969-73, reaching the rank of Lieutenant. He commenced his academic research on defence economics in 1985 following an eight-month Ford Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship in National Security and Arms Control at MIT. He has produced over fifteen publications about the economics of defence in the USSR/Russia, including those shown below. Over the past six months he organized a large conference about the economics of the war in Ukraine, which was held at Wolfson College in December 2023.

Seminars at 13.30, Old Library, All Souls
All are welcome, no need to book.

Monday 5 February, 17.00
Pembroke College and Online

Emerging Threats & Technology Working Group

Topic: AUKUS Advanced Cyber Capabilities, Strategy, and Integration

Speaker: Ciaran Martin, CB, GCHQ NCSC CEO (2016-20); Professor of Practice (Oxford)

Christopher Morris runs a weekly discussion group. Please be aware that group attendance may be limited. It is required to contact Christopher (Christopher.Morris@politics.ox.ac.uk) in advance for availability. Meetings will run both in person and online.

In person location: Mary Hyde Eccles Room, Pembroke College
Online: Microsoft Teams

Illusionary Trends in Strategic Studies Seminar Series

Wednesday 31 January, 17.15
Wharton Room, All Souls College, Oxford, OX1 4AL

Closed Deal: Private Authority of Companies in Cyber Conflict and Crises

Louise Marie Hurel, London School of Economics and RUSI

The Russo-Ukrainian War has raised significant questions about not only the role of cyber operations in conflict but also the measure of private sector engagement and participation in these contexts. But neither is Ukraine the only testing ground, nor is the presence and gap-filling of private companies in conflict and crises new. This lecture will explore the antecedents, enablers and recent examples of how companies have sought to legitimize and expand their presence in providing cybersecurity in conflict and crises. 

Seminars at 17.15, Wharton Room, All Souls College, Oxford, OX1 4AL.
All are welcome, no need to book.

Wednesday 31 January, 15.00
Chester Room, Nuffield College

Cyber Strategy & Technology Studies working Group

Topic:Democratization of AI & Global Equity in Technology

Working Group Discussion

The Cyber Strategy and Tech Statecraft Group meets every Wednesday during term-time. It has a hybrid meeting format, held in person in the Chester Room at Nuffield College (in person) and on Microsoft Teams (online).

Preparatory materials will be sent in advance of the session, together with discussion questions for the session. Some background knowledge or experience of the topic is recommended but not required.

Attendance to all sessions are open to graduate students and members of the academic or policy communities. Group attendance may be limited; it is encouraged for all interested participants to contact Elisabeth (elisabeth.siegel@politics.ox.ac.uk) in advance to secure their place and receive the preparatory materials.

Tuesday 30 January, 13.30
Old Library, All Souls

How Worlds Collapse: What History, Systems, and Complexity can Teach Us About Our Modern World and Fragile Nature

Paul Larcey, Princeton University

As our society confronts the impacts of globalization and global systemic risks—such as financial contagion, climate change, and epidemics—what can studies of the past tell us about our present and future? How Worlds Collapse offers case studies of societies that either collapsed or overcame cataclysmic adversity. The authors in this volume find commonalities between past civilizations and our current society, tracing patterns, strategies, and early warning signs that can inform decision-making today. While today’s world presents unique challenges, many mechanisms, dynamics, and fundamental challenges to the foundations of civilization have been consistent throughout history—highlighting essential lessons for the future.

Paul A. Larcey is co-director of the PIIRS Global Systemic Risk research community at Princeton University. Larcey’s work with the UK’s innovation agency focuses on key emerging technologies including life sciences, quantum technologies, and AI. He has worked in corporate research, venture capital, and global industrial sectors at board and senior levels and studied engineering, materials science, and finance at London, Oxford, and Cambridge Universities.

You can buy ‘How Worlds Collapse: What History, Systems, and Complexity Can Teach Us About Our Modern World and Fragile Future’ here: https://www.routledge.com/How-Worlds-Collapse-What-History-Systems-and-Complexity-Can-Teach-Us/Centeno-Callahan-Larcey-Patterson/p/book/9781032363219 

 GSR also developed a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on global systemic risk, which can be found here: https://www.coursera.org/learn/global-systemic-risk? 

Seminars at 13.30, Old Library, All Souls
All are welcome, no need to book.

Monday 29 January, 17.00
Pembroke College and Online

Emerging Threats & Technology Working Group

Topic: Defense Innovation: Artificial Intelligence, Autonomy, & Finance

Speaker: James Galkowski, Partner, Silicon Valley Defense Group; White House (2018-20)

Christopher Morris runs a weekly discussion group. Please be aware that group attendance may be limited. It is required to contact Christopher (Christopher.Morris@politics.ox.ac.uk) in advance for availability. Meetings will run both in person and online.

In person location: Mary Hyde Eccles Room, Pembroke College
Online: Microsoft Teams

Wednesday 24 January, 15.00
Chester Room, Nuffield College

Cyber Strategy & Technology Studies working Group

Topic:Military AI & Nuclear Security

Fireside Chat: Noah Greene (Center for a New American Security)

The Cyber Strategy and Tech Statecraft Group meets every Wednesday during term-time. It has a hybrid meeting format, held in person in the Chester Room at Nuffield College (in person) and on Microsoft Teams (online).

Preparatory materials will be sent in advance of the session, together with discussion questions for the session. Some background knowledge or experience of the topic is recommended but not required.

Attendance to all sessions are open to graduate students and members of the academic or policy communities. Group attendance may be limited; it is encouraged for all interested participants to contact Elisabeth (elisabeth.siegel@politics.ox.ac.uk) in advance to secure their place and receive the preparatory materials.

Tuesday 23 January, 13.30
Old Library, All Souls

(Re)shaping Ukrainian Identity Through Linguistic Choices During the Full-Scale Russo-Ukrainian War

Dr Iryna Halasa, West Ukrainian National University and KCL

Linguistic implications form vital insights for understanding the nature of war discourse. They also demonstrate ways in which language is manipulated in order to achieve definite goals.

The researcher will interpret President Zelenskyy’s Independence Day speech presented on August 24, 2023. It is analyzed from the perspective of critical discourse analysis. The research questions are: What function, if any, does the speech of Volodymyr Zelenskyi have on the Ukrainian audience? And what linguistic means, if any, does the Ukrainian President deliberately use to achieve his goals while interacting with the Ukrainians?

Taking into account V.Zelenskyy’s former career, discourse has always been an important tool to influence and manipulate the audience. Kvartal 95 humor, sarcasm and satire were the key means to reach the recipients before his presidential ambitions. And his political speeches in the role of the President became the main source of information and support to the Ukrainians during the full-scale invasion of Russia to Ukraine. In this study we make an attempt to demonstrate four main functions of the President’s speeches to the nation during Russo-Ukrainian war which include unifying, supportive/encouraging, sympathetic, and glorious functions. We also interpret his Independence Day speech from the perspective of personal pronouns usage. 

Iryna Halasa, PhD, Associate Professor at West Ukrainian National University, Ternopil, Ukraine. She is currently holding the British Academy Researchers at Risk Award and working on her research project as a visiting scholar at King’s College London, UK. She obtained her PhD from Ivan Franko National University of L’viv in 2011. Her professional development is confirmed by numerous internships in such countries as the USA, the UK, Sweden, Hungary, Poland and others. Harvard University scholarship represents one of the most important achievements of the researcher. Iryna Halasa’s research interests include peculiarities of political discourse functioning and Russo-Ukrainian war vocabulary interpretation.  

Seminars at 13.30, Old Library, All Souls
All are welcome, no need to book.

Monday 22 January, 17.00
Pembroke College and Online

Emerging Threats & Technology Working Group

Topic: Russo‐Ukrainian War: The Private Sector & Emerging Technologies

Speaker: Dr. Hugo Rosemont, Visting Senior Research Fellow, KCL; Policy Director, KBR

Christopher Morris runs a weekly discussion group. Please be aware that group attendance may be limited. It is required to contact Christopher (Christopher.Morris@politics.ox.ac.uk) in advance for availability. Meetings will run both in person and online.

In person location: Mary Hyde Eccles Room, Pembroke College
Online: Microsoft Teams

Illusionary Trends in Strategic Studies Seminar Series

Wednesday 17 January, 17.15
Wharton Room, All Souls College, Oxford, OX1 4AL

Mass and Multipolarity: Qualitative and Quantitative Balancing after Western Hegemony  

Dr David Blagden, University of Exeter

The international system is returning to multipolarity—a situation of multiple competing major powers—drawing the post-Cold War ‘unipolar moment’ of comprehensive US-led Western political, economic, and military dominance to an end. The rise of China, belligerent assertiveness of Russia, and associated return of multipolarity at the systemic level in turn carry implications for European states’ strategic posture, including that of the UK. In particular, the techno-utopian hope that Britain can achieve its balancing needs through qualitative advantage alone, without significant bolstering of the UK’s quantitative resilience, risks exposure in a world of adversaries capable of their own strategic adaptation and innovation.  

David Blagden is Senior Lecturer in International Security at the University of Exeter. He was previously the Adrian Research Fellow in International Politics at Darwin College, University of Cambridge. His research has been published in International Security, International Studies Quarterly, the European Journal of International Relations, Security Studies, International Affairs, Survival, and Foreign Policy Analysis, among other outlets; he has also provided public commentary for the BBC, The Guardian, The Spectator, the New Statesman, and other media. On the policy side, Dr Blagden has served as Specialist Adviser to a Parliamentary Select Committee as well as consulting for several UK Government departments and agencies. He is also an officer in the Royal Naval Reserve, and has served at sea and ashore with a number of UK and NATO warships and headquarters. He obtained his BA (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics) and DPhil (International Relations) from the University of Oxford, and his MA (International Relations) from the University of Chicago.

Seminars at 17.15, Wharton Room, All Souls College, Oxford, OX1 4AL.
All are welcome, no need to book.

Wednesday 17 January, 15.00
Chester Room, Nuffield College

Cyber Strategy & Technology Studies working Group

Topic:Compute as a Critical Resource

Working Group Discussion

The Cyber Strategy and Tech Statecraft Group meets every Wednesday during term-time. It has a hybrid meeting format, held in person in the Chester Room at Nuffield College (in person) and on Microsoft Teams (online).

Preparatory materials will be sent in advance of the session, together with discussion questions for the session. Some background knowledge or experience of the topic is recommended but not required.

Attendance to all sessions are open to graduate students and members of the academic or policy communities. Group attendance may be limited; it is encouraged for all interested participants to contact Elisabeth (elisabeth.siegel@politics.ox.ac.uk) in advance to secure their place and receive the preparatory materials.

Tuesday 16 January 13.30
Old Library, All Souls

Welding Alliances: How Allied Warship Production Could Transform the Indo-Pacific

Cdr. Doug Robb

U.S. Navy surface ships are deployed around the world in strategically important waters.  Their presence matters in the increasingly complex maritime domain and yet, despite unprecedented congressional support for shipbuilding, the U.S. defence industrial base cannot keep up with demand.  At the same time, the U.S. is exploring new ways to deepen cooperation with partners in the Indo-Pacific to strengthen regional collective security and deter potential conflict.  A collaborative warship construction program may succeed in achieving those aims.

Commander Douglas Robb is the Academic Year 2023-2024 U.S. Navy Hudson Fellow at St. Antony’s College and a visiting research fellow in the Changing Character of War Centre at Pembroke College.  His operational assignments have been in Pacific fleet-based guided missile destroyers, culminating most recently as commanding officer of USS Spruance (DDG 111), homeported in San Diego, California.  His staff assignments in Washington, DC include liaison to the U.S. House of Representatives in the Navy’s Office of Legislative Affairs; Tomahawk Missile and Surface Strike section head in the Navy Staff’s Surface Warfare Division (OPNAV N96); and speechwriter for the Navy’s four-star uniformed leader, the Chief of Naval Operations. Current research interests include ways to strengthen naval power, including how allied capabilities may be used to overcome domestic constraints.    

Seminars at 13.30, Old Library, All Souls
All are welcome, no need to book.

Wednesday 29 November, 15.00
Chester Room, Nuffield College

Cyber Strategy & Technology Studies working Group

Topic:Current Issues in Educating Public Officials about Emerging Technologies

Working Group Discussion, Followed by Pub Social

The Cyber Strategy and Tech Statecraft Group meets every Wednesday during term-time. It has a hybrid meeting format, held in person in the Chester Room at Nuffield College (in person) and on Microsoft Teams (online).

Preparatory materials will be sent in advance of the session, together with discussion questions for the session. Some background knowledge or experience of the topic is recommended but not required.

Attendance to all sessions are open to graduate students and members of the academic or policy communities. Group attendance may be limited; it is encouraged for all interested participants to contact Elisabeth (elisabeth.siegel@politics.ox.ac.uk) in advance to secure their place and receive the preparatory materials.

Tuesday 28 November, 13.00. Sandwiches served from 12.40.
Lecture Theatre, Manor Road Building

Cyber capacity and strategic advantage: resilience, influence, and control

Julia Carver, Oxford

Julia Carver is a DPhil candidate in International Relations at the University of Oxford and Nuffield College. Her work explores cyber-foreign policymaking and strategic thinking in the current era of great power competition, particularly the relationship between digital infrastructure, capacity building, and strategic advantage. In 2021, she founded the Changing Character of War Centre’s Cyber Strategy and Information Operations Working Group, and she currently holds a stipendiary lectureship in Politics at Magdalen College (Oxford). Her research is jointly funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and Nuffield College.

Seminars at 13.00, Lecture Theatre, Manor Road Building, Oxford, OX1 3UQ
All are welcome, no need to book.

Monday 27 November, 17.00
Boyd Room, Hertford College

Emerging Threats & Technology Working Group

Topic: Grand Strategy & Great Power Technology Competition

Christopher Morris runs a weekly discussion group. Please be aware that group attendance may be limited. It is required to contact Christopher (Christopher.Morris@politics.ox.ac.uk) in advance for availability. Meetings will run both in person and online.

In person location: Boyd Room, Hertford College
Online: Microsoft Teams