Event: Understanding Complex Conflicts
Channel: War Studies KCL
Date: 2018-06-21

As the seven-year war in Syria continues, and the centenary of the First World War approaches a close, the School of Security Studies, King’s College London, invites you to hear from our academics about the complexities of the two conflicts. Whether you are a current or prospective student at King’s, from Whitehall, the media or the wider public, this event will expand your knowledge and understanding of two of the most complex conflicts in history.

The event will comprise panels on the First World War and the Syria conflict addressing a range of topics from military innovation, ethics, the use of chemical weapons and commemoration, to the impact of social media, the outsourcing of violence, and war’s end.

Programme

1330-1335 Introduction and welcome

Professor Wyn Bowen, Head, School of Security Studies

1335-1505 Panel I: The First World War

- Chair: Jenny Waldman, Director of the First World War Centenary Cultural Programme.

- Aimee Fox: ‘Military Innovation and the Politics of Command in the British Army, 1914-1918’.

- Bill Philpott: A Complex Security Challenge: Resolving the First World War

- Helen McCartney: ‘Commemoration and the First World War in Britain’.

1525-1655 Panel II: The Conflict in Syria

- Chair: Emile Hokayem, Senior Fellow for Middle East Security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

- Reinoud Leenders: ‘With Friends like These: Iran and the outsourcing of state violence in the Syrian war’

- Charles Winter: ‘The most socially mediated conflict in history? Using open source methods to map foreign fighters in the Syrian conflict’

- Susan Martin: ‘Chemical Weapons and Syria’

- David Whetham: 'Choosing sides: exploring the ethics of alliances and third party support in Syria'

1655-1700 Closing remarks