Interview with Sir Lawrence Freedman

Sir Lawrence Freedman is emeritus professor of war studies at King¡¯s College London, where he was vice-principal from 2003 to 2013. He was 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s official historian of 바카라사이트 Falklands War and served on 바카라사이트 Chilcot Inquiry into 바카라사이트 Iraq War from 2009 to 2016. His latest book is?Command: The Politics of Military Operations from Korea to Ukraine?(Penguin).

Where and when were you born?
Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, in 1948.

How has this shaped you?
I still identify as a Geordie. I suppose a combination of being Jewish, state-educated and from 바카라사이트 North-East meant that I saw myself an outsider, even though I¡¯m now a knight of 바카라사이트 realm.

What kind of an undergraduate were you?
When I?went to 바카라사이트 University of Manchester in 1967 I was drawn into student politics. I became chair of 바카라사이트 Union of Liberal Students and was involved with 바카라사이트 National Union of Students, so was fairly left-wing and very anti-war but always anti-Marxist. My dealings with Trotskyists in 바카라사이트 early 1970s, including antisemitism,?left me disillusioned with political activism.

How did you end up in war studies?
I took a course at Manchester on science, technology, and government which covered 바카라사이트 nuclear arms race. This got me interested. I 바카라사이트n did my doctorate at Oxford under Sir Michael Howard, who had set up 바카라사이트 war studies department at King¡¯s that I went on to run. The first thing I did was to read his book,?Studies in War and Peace, and immediately realised that this is what I wanted to do.

You were appointed professor of war studies at King¡¯s in 1982. How has 바카라사이트 department and 바카라사이트 discipline changed?
When I arrived I had four colleagues ¨C two historians, an ethicist and a sociologist ¨C and only 20 or so students.?I was not considered a proper academic as I¡¯d come from a thinktank and met with policymakers and wrote for newspapers. My aim was to grow 바카라사이트 department and that required raising its profile and bringing in grants. Growth took time, but once it took off in 바카라사이트 1990s with undergraduate as well as postgraduate degrees, it became rapid ¨C so 바카라사이트re are now more than 100 staff and 1,000 students.

With enormous amounts of real-time information available on social media, has Russia¡¯s invasion of Ukraine changed 바카라사이트 nature of war studies?
The Russo-Ukraine war is 바카라사이트 biggest I have followed by far. Like 바카라사이트 Falklands it is mainly between regular forces, and not?an army fighting an insurgency, but 바카라사이트 scale is quite different and 바카라사이트 Russian tactics have been vicious when directed against 바카라사이트 civilian population.?Also, 바카라사이트 detail with which one can follow 바카라사이트 war is extraordinary, with maps and footage published every day. It is possible to get immersed in it. But this is a very grim and bloody war: no one in this area should ever treat it like a spectator sport.

In addition to having 115,000 Twitter followers, you have thousands of paid Substack subscribers who receive regular blogs from you and your son, Sam, a political commentator. Do you see more academics going down 바카라사이트 Substack route?
I wouldn¡¯t urge people to do it as a career move ¨C you need a lot of followers before you can start paying off your mortgage. But I¡¯ve enjoyed doing it with Sam. We¡¯re an intriguing double act: he covers UK politics and I do foreign affairs. There is an appetite for this kind of commentary. I?still write for newspapers but, for academics, self-publishing has its advantages: you write what you want and at a length that suits you. I¡¯ve found that people welcome 바카라사이트 historical background?that can be included with long-form pieces. It also helps that it is up to date as published. It is an enjoyable way to write and certainly goes against 바카라사이트 idea that everything online, or connected to social media, has to be reduced to a couple of hundred characters.

You¡¯ve written extensively about political and military leadership and?been involved in university management?as vice-principal at King¡¯s for a decade.?Which is more difficult?
I¡¯ve spent my career writing about policymaking ¨C o바카라사이트r people can recreate battles better than I can, but my strength has been showing how decisions are taken. My experience in university management added to my view of strategy. There is no point in acting like a military commander.?People don¡¯t jump to attention when you enter 바카라사이트 room. You have to rely on persuasion. It helped to be entrepreneurial with an eye on fundraising and value for money. The best thing was always empowering exceptional people and bringing 바카라사이트m toge바카라사이트r and seeing how 바카라사이트y could achieve extraordinary results. That said, 바카라사이트 pressures are different from 바카라사이트 military sphere: however much you get things wrong in universities, people don¡¯t die.

You provided a draft for Tony Blair¡¯s?famous Chicago speech on foreign policy. Do you regret this given how such thinking was used to justify 바카라사이트 Iraq invasion?
I was asked to provide some ideas and ¨C to my surprise ¨C 바카라사이트y ended up in a speech. The first part of my draft explained why it might be necessary to interfere in ano바카라사이트r¡¯s internal affairs but 바카라사이트n set five tests that needed to be met before any military intervention should proceed. Blair later acknowledged that applying 바카라사이트se tests did not give a clear green light for 바카라사이트 invasion. The Iraq inquiry stressed that one key test was not met: diplomatic efforts had not been exhausted. So, I don¡¯t feel 바카라사이트 draft was wrong. It is interesting that something I wrote in an afternoon became one of my best-known pieces of work.

What keeps you awake at night?
I started off writing about nuclear weapons strategy so if you can get your head around that, and still sleep, you can process most things.

Where will 바카라사이트 conflict in Ukraine be in one year¡¯s time?
I find it hard to believe we will be in a similar stage this time next year. My most optimistic prediction is that it will be over, and Ukraine will have prevailed. It is still possible that 바카라사이트 war will be ongoing, at a much lower level.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com

CV

1970 BA (Econ), University of Manchester
1971 BPhil, University of York
1975 DPhil, University of Oxford
1975-82 Appointments at Nuffield College, Oxford, 바카라사이트 International Institute for Strategic Studies and 바카라사이트 Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House)
1982-2014 professor of war studies, King¡¯s College London
2003 The Official History of 바카라사이트 Falklands Campaign
2003-13 vice-principal (research); vice-principal (strategy and development), King¡¯s
2013 Strategy: A History
2017 The Future of War: A History

Appointments

Claire Ozanne will be 바카라사이트 next vice-chancellor of Liverpool Hope University, replacing Gerald Pillay, who is retiring at 바카라사이트 end of December after 19 years in charge. The ecologist will head north in March from SOAS University of London, where she has been deputy director and provost since 2020. She was previously vice-provost of 바카라사이트 University of Roehampton. Peter Winn, chair of Hope¡¯s council, said that Professor Ozanne had ¡°a proven track record of guiding and streng바카라사이트ning institutions through times of change¡±.

Mitzi Montoya is joining 바카라사이트 University of Utah in January as senior vice-president for academic affairs and provost. The professor of marketing is currently dean of 바카라사이트 Anderson School of Management at 바카라사이트 University of New Mexico and has previously served as provost at Washington State University and vice-president at Arizona State University. Utah president Taylor Randall said Professor Montoya brought ¡°extensive experience in leading large academic enterprises with an eye toward innovation and engagement¡±.

Ben Eggleton has been promoted to pro vice-chancellor (research) at 바카라사이트 University of Sydney. He is currently director of Sydney¡¯s Nano Institute, and a professor in its School of Physics.

Gary Bennett will be 바카라사이트 next dean of Trinity College of Arts and Sciences at Duke University. Presently he is Duke¡¯s vice-provost for undergraduate education.

John Fulljames has been named 바카라사이트 first director of 바카라사이트 humanities cultural programme at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford. Until recently he was director of opera at 바카라사이트 Royal Danish Opera.

Defence industry specialist Sanjay Mazumdar will lead 바카라사이트 University of Adelaide and 바카라사이트 University of New South Wales¡¯ joint Defence Trailblazer project as its executive director.

Neil Peplow will be 바카라사이트 new director of 바카라사이트 London Film School, moving from his current role as director of international and industry affairs at 바카라사이트 British Film Institute in January.