War Studies

Please note that this episode contains material of a highly sensitive nature including kidnapping, violence and abuse that may be triggering for some individuals. In late August 2011, a few months after the assassination of his father Salmaan Taseer, Governor of Punjab, Mr Shahbaz Taseer was dragged from his car at gunpoint and kidnapped by a group of Taliban affiliated militants called the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan(IMU). For almost five years Mr Taseer was held captive, moved from Mir Ali to Zabul Afghanistan, frequently tortured and forced to endure extreme cruelty, his fate resting on his kidnappers’ impossible demands and the uneasy alliances between his captors, the Taliban and ISIS. Dr Rajan Basra, Senior Research Fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and post-doctoral researcher on the XCEPT programme, speaks to Mr Shahbaz Taseer about his experience and the release of his memoir "Lost To The World - A memoir of faith, family and five years in terrorist captivity".

‘I think people are willing to sacrifice, and go through all sorts of pain, but it can’t just be for oneself. There has to be some higher reasoning to it’. In this episode, we are joined once again by Dr Nafees Hamid, cognitive scientist, Senior Research Fellow at the ICSR, and Research and Policy Director on the XCEPT project at King’s College London. We’ll be discussing identity in the West, the crisis of individualism, and the space this creates for extremism to flourish. Taking a more in-depth view of Dr Hamid’s observations of psychology at a societal level, we discuss his upcoming book proposal, what inspired him to focus his research on this topic, and what it tells us about Western society. This research is being undertaken as part of a UK aid funded project called XCEPT, which aims to understand the drivers of violent and peaceful behaviour in conflict-affected populations – and to find solutions that support peace. Find out more about XCEPT at xcept-research.org.

In the latest episode of the Breaking Cycles of Conflict mini-series, Dr Heidi Riley is joined by Dr Gina Vale to discuss how trauma can affect efforts to reintegrate ex-combatants. Dr Riley explores the different ways in which trauma can be experienced by combatants, and why this makes an individual’s reintegration into post-conflict society so complex. This research is being undertaken as part of a UK aid funded project called XCEPT, which aims to understand the drivers of violent and peaceful behaviour in conflict-affected populations – and to find solutions that support peace. Find out more about XCEPT at xcept-research.org N.B. Since this episode was recorded, Dr Gina Vale has left the XCEPT project and King’s College London. She continues to work on these issues in her current position as Lecturer of Criminology at the University of Southampton.

In the latest episode of the Breaking Cycles of Conflict mini-series, we are joined by Dr Nafees Hamid, Senior Research Fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) and Research and Policy Director for the Cross-Border Conflict Evidence, Policy and Trends (XCEPT) research programme. A cognitive scientist focusing on the social side of cognitive research, Dr Hamid talks us through his work looking at the neuroimaging of radicalised individuals. Questioning the dominant rational actor model, he instead proposes a different approach to understanding what makes radicalised individuals ‘tick’. This research is being undertaken as part of a UK aid funded project called XCEPT, which aims to understand the drivers of violent and peaceful behaviour in conflict-affected populations – and to find solutions that support peace. Find out more about XCEPT at xcept-research.org.

As the conflict in Syria passes its 12th anniversary, one civil society body is trying to pave the way to peace. The Council of the Syrian Charter calls for social cohesion built around a common social heritage that transcends political affiliation. In this podcast episode, Dr Craig Larkin and Dr Inna Rudolf are joined by Syrian lawyer and founder of the Council, Dr Naseef Naeem; journalist and Middle East expert, Daniel Gerlach; and Council member, Tambi Qassem, who share their thoughts on overcoming the obstacles of civil war, the Council’s work, and how Syrian civil society ‘bears the key to the exacerbation or relief of the conflict’. This research is being undertaken as part of a UK aid funded project called XCEPT, which aims to understand the drivers of violent and peaceful behaviour in conflict-affected populations – and to find solutions that support peace. Find out more about XCEPT at xcept-research.org.

In this episode of the Breaking Cycles of Conflict mini-series, Paul Gill, Professor of Security and Crime Science at University College London, discusses his research into lone actor terrorists and the complex link between mental health and terrorism with Professor Ted Barker. The pair talk about how coping mechanisms, stigma, and protective factors shape an individual’s motivations to join a terrorist group or to commit acts of violence. This research is being undertaken as part of a UK aid funded project called XCEPT, which aims to understand the drivers of violent and peaceful behaviour in conflict-affected populations – and to find solutions that support peace. Find out more about XCEPT at xcept-research.org.

Why is there support for Putin's invasion of Ukraine? How has the Kremlin framed the war? What will be the long-term impact of the war on Russia? In this episode, we spoke to Dr Jade McGlynn, a Senior Researcher in the Department of War Studies and the author of 'Russia's War', a book that explores the attitudes and opinions behind the support for the invasion of Ukraine and popularity of Vladimir Putin. Dr McGlynn argues that the conflict can't be solved in Ukraine because the problem lies in Russia's "social and political imagination of itself". We explore this idea, looking at what Russian citizens are being told by politicians and the media, and the historical underpinnings that are shaping the Kremlin's narrative and attitudes towards the invasion. Focusing on the impact of the war on Russia, we get her opinions on the outcome of the conflict, because if the war can't be won on the battlefield, are there any potential solutions to end Russia's War on Ukraine? Read 'Russia's War': https://www.amazon

How can testimony and storytelling help us understand the suffering and trauma of victims of conflict? Why is the act of bearing witness to trauma politically important in terms of raising awareness, healing, and reconciliation? In this episode, Dr Pablo De Orellana, Lecturer at War Studies, sits down with two authors, Professor Minoli Salgado and Gareth Owen, who retold stories of trauma in conflict. Together, they explore the emotional divide between those who suffer and those who impose suffering in conflict. They also discuss how trauma is politicised after it has happened, highlighting the emotional and psychological aspects of trauma and aid work.

Why is it important to give women a voice in the study of war and security? Are women considered in military strategies and post-conflict reconstruction?    In this special edition for International Women's Day, we talk to Dr Amanda Chisholm about the role of women in conflict, discussing her latest book 'The Gendered and Colonial Lives of Gurkhas in Private Security: From Military to Market'. Dr Chisholm also talks about her experience as a researcher in Gender and Security Studies, exploring the main challenges women face in academia and how we could break inequalities.

King's College London postdoctoral researcher, Marina Miron, talks to the War Studies Podcast as we reflect on the first 365 days of Russia's 'Special Military Operation' in Ukraine. Using her knowledge of Russian military strategy, information warfare, and technology, we explore what has happened, why, and what it could mean for the future of global security.

As Shamima Begum appeals the removal of her British citizenship, the question of whether or not she is a ‘victim’ has flooded the press. Was Begum trafficked? Was she groomed? Or did she in fact know exactly what she was doing when she set off to Syria? In this episode of the ‘Breaking Cycles of Conflict’ mini-series, Dr Gina Vale talks about her research into the role of women in IS. She explains how some moved from domestic roles to frontline combat, why the notion of ‘jihadi brides’ can be reductive, and the challenges and risks of reintegrating IS-affiliated women into society. This research is being undertaken as part of a UK aid funded project called XCEPT, which aims to understand the drivers of violent and peaceful behaviour in conflict-affected populations – and to find solutions that support peace. Find out more about XCEPT at xcept-research.org N.B. Since this episode was recorded, Dr Gina Vale has left the XCEPT project and King’s College London. She continues to work on these issues in her cur

Trauma interventions in fragile areas can help to break cycles of conflict, because we know that exposure to violence causes trauma, but that trauma can also cause violence. But these interventions are often delivered for only a narrow group of people deemed to be ‘worthy’ of them. In reality, the distinction between victim and perpetrator in conflict-affected populations isn’t quite so clear cut. In this episode of the ‘Breaking Cycles of Conflict’ mini-series, Dr Gina Vale interviews Dr Alison Brettle about her research into trauma interventions. Dr Brettle explains what programmes work best in fragile and conflict-affected areas and why the international donor and policy communities need to broaden their conceptualisation of who should be allowed to participate in interventions. This research is being undertaken as part of a UK aid funded project called XCEPT, which aims to understand the drivers of violent and peaceful behaviour in conflict-affected populations – and to find solutions that support peace

Are prisons really hotbeds of terrorism? Will the ‘ordinary’ young man entering prison be so influenced by his cell mate that he leaves a terrorist? Or can a spell in these ‘incubators of extremism’ actually have the opposite effect? In the second instalment of this mini-series, we join Dr Craig Larkin and Dr Rajan Basra fresh off the plane from Beirut to talk about their fieldwork out in Lebanon interviewing ex-Islamist prisoners and their families. Interviewed by Dr Nafees Hamid, the pair discuss how historic conflicts, social inequalities, and personal traumas can all lead prisoners to pursue a path towards, or away from, extremism. This research is being undertaken as part of a UK aid funded project called XCEPT, which aims to understand the drivers of violent and peaceful behaviour in conflict-affected populations – and to find solutions that support peace. Find out more about XCEPT at xcept-research.org

What drives one person to violence and another to peace? How does experience of trauma lead to radicalisation? Are there interventions that can help deflect people from trajectories of extremism? These are some of the questions that researchers at the Cross-Border Conflict Evidence, Policy and Trends (XCEPT) programme at King’s College London are trying to answer. In this episode Dr Nafees Hamid and Dr Fiona McEwen introduce the work being done as part of the XCEPT programme at King’s College London and give us a glimpse of what’s to come. Funded by UK aid, XCEPT aims to understand the drivers of violent and peaceful behaviour, and to propose interventions and policies that can bring about peace. Find out more about XCEPT at xcept-research.org

The HMS Derwent arrived in Freetown harbour, Sierra Leone in March 1808, escorting two captured American ships carrying 167 enslaved people. What made them unusual was that their journey was interrupted — they were not simply captives, but “recaptives.” No longer bound for the Americas, these “liberated Africans” were instead bound to the British Empire: one of the first groups of survivors of the Atlantic slave trade to be brought to a British colony under the newly operational Slave Trade Abolition Act of 1807. But what happened to these former slaves as they fell under the “protection” of the British Government? The freedom into which they had been delivered—as they would learn—was not intended to mean anything more than freedom from being legally owned as chattel. Former slaves were expected to repay the debt of their salvation. In this special Black History Month episode of the War Studies Podcast, Dr Maeve Ryan joins us to discuss her new book, which seeks to deepen our understanding of the conceptua

Over the winter of 2019 in India, 519 riots took place causing mass casualties and deaths. This in part was a reaction to the introduction of the Citizenship Amendments Act (CAA), government legislation that enabled non-Muslim immigrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh to become Indian citizens. The exclusion of Muslims was seen by many as a fundamental challenge to principles of secularism enshrined in the Indian Constitution, resulting in violent altercations between protestors, the police and Hindu nationalists. Yet, this was not the only cause. Far removed from CAA agitations, political violence in a variety of forms was waged across India and their neighbouring countries. 75 years since the Partition of the India, we speak to Dr Adnan Naseemullah, Reader in International Politics in the Department of War Studies, to explore the roots of political violence across India, Pakistan and Bangledesh. Discussing his new book, ‘Patchwork States: The Historical Roots of Subnational Conflict and Competi

The Western Front, that cauldron of war, a bubbling, fermenting experiment in killing that changed the world. The Western Front would become synonymous with stalemate and mass slaughter, with indecisive, attritional struggles, amid a tortured landscape of barbed wire and mud. All the commanders of the First World War, whether leading the British, French or German, struggled in this maelstrom. Yet, for years the 'Generals' have been characterised as ‘donkeys’ or ‘butchers’: unfeeling military aristocrats fighting the wrong kind of war, unable to adapt or change to the new realities unfolding on the battlefield. In this episode, Professor of Modern Warfare in the Defence Studies Department, Nick Lloyd, counters this prevailing narrative, to provide a much more complex and nuanced understanding of these men, trying to cope with a war that had shattered their lives as much as any other. Discussing his book, The Western Front: A History of the First World War, he shares how the truth about the Generals’ perfo

Globally, there are very few women in leadership positions in healthcare and peacebuilding in areas of armed conflict – but why is this the case? Why are women a key part of healthcare & peacebuilding? What barriers do women face in accessing leadership roles? And what can we do to tackle this? In this episode, we speak with a team of researchers about their recently published policy brief, ‘An untapped potential: Women’s leadership in health in conflict and peacebuilding’. They give vital insight into some of the biggest issues facing women and peacebuilding, and highlight the emerging relationship between women’s leadership, healthcare, and peace in conflict-affected settings.

Why did the United States become involved in Vietnam? To combat communism, evidently. But just how did a Southeast Asian French colony already devastated by two wars become an existential threat? The Vietnam war is one of the most studied diplomatic and security conundrums of international history, political science, international relations and statecraft. Yet less is known about the actual origins of this conflict, which was the continuation of a French colonial conflict. In this episode Dr Pablo de Orellana, Lecturer in International Relations in the Department of War Studies, discusses his book the 'Road to Vietnam', which explores how the United States was persuaded to stake its diplomatic and economic might to support France's war to retain it's colony in Indochina, after which the French withdrew in 1954 and it became an American burden. Focusing on the diplomatic texts of France, Vietnam the USA and UK during this period, he traces the evolutions of the descriptions and narrative ofthe peoples and

“Empty stomachs have no ears…” These were the words of a poacher in Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, when asked why he continued to destroy wildlife in a local forest. It reveals what we often forget: that the degradation of biodiversity doesn't happen in a vacuum. So how are global security, development and conservation related? In what ways do conflict and its many secondary effects, bring grave risks for biodiversity? And how can start seeing action on climate and wildlife as a fundamental part of the post-conflict peacebuilding process? This special episode for London Climate Action Week sees Dr Richard Milburn, Visiting Research Associate in the Department of War Studies, answer these questions and more. He gives important insight into some of the biggest issues around climate, conservation and security, including ways to protect wildlife during conflict, post-conflict environmental recovery, and how we can fundamentally challenge our thinking on climate change, including why we should all