Professor Michael Rainsborough
Department of War Studies
King's College London
Strand
London WC2R 2LS
Professor Michael Rainsborough will be on study leave during academic year 2012/13. Any urgent inquiries should be directed to the War Studies main office war.enquiries@kcl.ac.uk
Areas of interest
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Strategic theory
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History of strategic thought
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The nature of dissent
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The impact of war on wildlife and animal welfare
Biography
Professor Michael Rainsborough is Professor of Strategic Theory. He completed his PhD and MA in the Department of War Studies, King's College, London having attained his BScEcon at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He joined the Department in 1997 having previously been Senior Lecturer in the Department of History and International Affairs at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich and the Defence Studies Department, Joint Services Command and Staff College. In 1986 he was a Robert Schuman Scholar with the Directorate-General of Research at the European Parliament, Luxembourg. He has also held posts as Lecturer in the Department of History, National University of Singapore (1992-1995) and Consultant and Principal Lecturer at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University (1997-2001). In 1998 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts. In addition to his duties at King’s Professor Rainsborough is also a Visiting Professor at the Norwegian Defence College where he teaches on the Professional Advanced Intelligence Course. He is also Academic Director of The Marjan Centre for the Study of Conflict and Conservation (MCSCC) hosted by the Department of War Studies.
Teaching
Professor Michael Rainsborough has taught in a wide range of settings at undergraduate and postgraduate levels both at King’s and elsewhere. In 2003 he founded the Masters in Intelligence and International Security. This was the first free standing masters level degree programme that was separate from the traditional MA in War Studies, which up until that point had been the only post-graduate degree offered by the department. The MA in Intelligence and International Security pioneered the way for the expansion of the Department’s wide-ranging suite of MA programmes. The MA is now established as one of the most popular masters programmes in the Department. Professor Rainsborough was the Programme Director of the MA in Intelligence and International Security between 2003 and 2009.
In 2006 Professor Rainsborough won the College Teaching Excellence Award for teaching in the School of Social Science and Public Policy.
Current teaching
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The Result in War is Never Final: A Short Study of Dissidence and Resistance
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Wars Within Wars: Intelligence Wars, Secret Wars and Dirty Wars
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Guerrillas in the Mist: Insurgency and Counter-insurgency in the Modern World
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State, Society and Strategy
Service to the Profession
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May 2004 Prof Rainsborough was one of a panel of advisors to the Home Office on Anti-Terrorism Legislation.
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Continuing involvement in professional military education with the Royal College of Defence Studies and the Joint Services Command and Staff College.
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Visiting Professor, Norwegian University Defence College, Oslo.
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External Examiner, Department of Politics and Communication Studies, University of Liverpool,
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External PhD/MPhil Examiner for the School of Public Policy, University of Ulster, Department of Political Science Department, University of Tasmania; Department of Political Science, University of Southern Queensland; Department of Politics, University of Hull; Department of International Relations, University of St Andrews; and the Centre for Psychoanalysis, University of Essex.
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Assessor for the Economic and Social Research Council, the Marsden Fund of the Royal Society of New Zealand and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (Council for the Humanities) and the Israel Science Foundation.
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External Referee for International Security, Security Studies, Review of International Studies, Journal of Strategic Studies, Contemporary Security Policy, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Millennium: Journal of International Relations, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Critical Asian Studies, Small Wars and Insurgencies, Journal of Cold War Studies, Intelligence and National Security.
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Associate Editor of the US journal Studies in Conflict and Terrorism.
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Editorial board member of Journal of Strategic Studies and Small Wars and Insurgencies
Academic honours & distinctions
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Royal Historical Society (2009) Fellowship
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Higher Education Academy (2007) Fellowship
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King’s College London (2006) Teaching Excellence
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Award (SSPP)
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Monash University Travelling (2000) Competition grant
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Ford Foundation (1999-2000) Competition grant
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Royal Society of the Arts (1998) Fellowship
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Royal Society for Asian Affairs (1997) member
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Economic and Social Science (1987-1990) Research Council scholarship
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Robert Schumann Scholarship (1986) Directorate General for Research, European Parliament
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J. Elizabeth Morris Prize (1985),University College of Wales, Aberystwyth.
Scholarships
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Ford Foundation 1999-2000 Competition grant
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Royal Society of the Arts 1998-present Fellowship
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Royal Society for Asian Affairs 1997-present
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Economic and Social Science 1987-1990 Doctoral research
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Research Council scholarship
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Directorate General for 1986 Robert Schumann
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Research, European Parliament Scholarship
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Department of International Politics 1985 J. Elizabeth Morris
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University of Wales, Aberystwyth Prize
Doctoral supervision
Professor Rainsborough is happy to consider research supervision in the following areas:
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The impact of war on wildlife and animal welfare past and present
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How ideas make their presence felt in war and politics
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How ideas affect strategic thought, both past and present, regarding the relationship between ends and means
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How ideas influence the application and instrumentality of force
Publications
Professor Rainsborough writes under the name of M.L.R. Smith. His most recemt book, Asian Security And The Rise Of China: International Relations in an Age of Volatility is published by Edward Elgar Publishing in April 2013. He is author of Fighting for Ireland? The Military Strategy of the Irish Republican Movement (London and New York: Routledge, 1995 and 1997); Reinventing Realism: Australian Foreign and Defence Policy at the Millennium (London: RIIA) (co-author); ASEAN and East Asian International Relations: Regional Delusion (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2006) (co-author); The Strategy of Terrorism: How It Works and Why It Fails (London and New York: Routledge, 2008) (co-author). He is also co-editor of The Changing Face of Maritime Power (London: Macmillan, 1998) and The Changing Face of Military Power (London: Palgrave, 2001).
In addition, Professor Rainsborough has written numerous book chapters and contributed articles to many of the leading journals in the field, including:
Review of International Studies
International Affairs
International Security
Orbis
Journal of Strategic Studies
Journal of Cold War Studies
Intelligence and National Security
Cold War History
Contemporary Security Policy
Small Wars and Insurgencies
Low Intensity Conflict and Law Enforcement
Studies in Conflict and Terrorism
Policy Review
Defense Analysis
The Round Table
Australian Journal of International Affairs
Armed Forces and Society
Democracy and Security
Contemporary British History
Civil Wars
Terrorism and Political Violence
He has contributed to periodicals such as Jane’s Intelligence Review, The World Today, Australian Financial Review, World Defence Systems, Yale Journal of International Affairs, Criminal Justice Matters, and e-International Relations.
Please see list of major publications:
Professor Rainsborough Major Publications
Research Impact
Professor Rainsborough’s work has sought to demonstrate the breadth and relevance of strategic theory. He was the first academic to demonstrate that strategic theory could be applied to violent sub-state actors in international politics (Fighting for Ireland? 1995). Since the late 1990s, moreover, he was one of the few analysts who tracked the al-Qaeda movement prior to 9/11, particularly in Southeast Asia (Jane’s Intelligence Review, November 2000 and Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, July 2001).
Along with co-writer, David Martin Jones, he was the first to describe the al-Qaeda movement in terms of a ‘franchise’ (World Today, October 2001) an expression that subsequently found widespread use in public commentary. Consequently his work has been recognised in providing a major contribution to the ‘Network’ theory of understanding of violent Islamist groups (‘The Myth of Grass-Roots Terrorism’, Foreign Affairs, May/June 2008). Further, he and Jones also coined the term the ‘Surveillance State’ (Intelligence and National Security, 2001) and with Peter Neumann developed the notion of ‘Discourse Failure’ (Orbis,2005), which posited a missing dimension in the study of intelligence failures.
Professor Rainsborough’s research work has more generally challenged orthodox assumptions surrounding such issues as the security and economic stability of the Asia-Pacific (International Affairs, October 2001; International Security, 2007; ASEAN and East Asian International Relations, 2006), and specifically the institution of ASEAN, Australian Foreign Policy (Reinventing Realism, 2000) and contemporary understandings of counter-insurgency thinking (Journal of Strategic Studies, February 2010). His most recent work demonstrated how strategic theory could be applied to the protection of wildlife (International Affairs, January 2011).