The Department of War Studies (DWS) is an academic department in the School of Security Studies within the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy at King's College London in London, United Kingdom. Along with other politics and international studies units at King's College London, it ranks amongst the top places for international relations in the world.[1] For international relations in the UK, which is taught within the War Studies Department and the Department of European & International Studies, King's ranks second nationally.[2] The department is devoted to the multi-disciplinary study of war and diplomacy within the broad remit of international relations. It remains one of the only academic departments in the world that can be described as such.[3]
Senior government officials, members of the military, diplomats, journalists, academics, and entrepreneurs are among the department's graduates. Amongst them are former Prime Minister of Jordan Marouf al-Bakhit; Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq Nickolay Mladenov, the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Tom de Bruijn and former Commandant General Royal Marines Sir Robert Fry. The department is affiliated with numerous think-tanks and foreign policy institutions.[4] It also houses numerous research institutes and centres, including the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives.
Since 2023, the Head of Department has been Matthew Moran. The Department of War Studies is located on the 6th floor of the Grade I listed King's Building on the Strand Campus of King's College London. It offers a range of undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and post-doctoral programmes and opportunities, as well as a unique three-year War Studies bachelor's degree.
History
A Department of Military Science existed at King's College London from 1848 to 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.[6] 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 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.[7]
In 2022 the department celebrated its 60th anniversary with a series of events.[8]
Ukraine conflict research and analysis
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, academics from the department have played a world-leading role in providing research and commentary on the war.[9]
The department received recognition for its contribution to global understanding of the conflict from the Public Relations and Communications Association, receiving highly commended for its 'Ukraine Explained' series, which brought together over 40 essays from its academics on the crisis.[11]
In 2022, the department launched the London Defence Conference in collaboration with current affairs analysis and news site Reaction.[12] In 2023, following the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke at the conference, where he described the People's Republic of China as an "epoch defining challenge to us".[13]
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".[17] 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.
