We’re excited to welcome Prof. (Sir) Philip Bobbitt KBE (Columbia University & former US Director of National Intelligence) for the upcoming Dockrill Lecture: The Bow of Odysseus.

This event features:

• A reception from 18.00 in the Anatomy Museum.
• Sir Philip's lecture from 19.00 in the Anatomy Lecture Theatre.

This event is open to the public and free to attend both in-person and online (via Zoom). In-person spaces are limited, so register now to secure your spot!

About The Bow of Odysseus

In this lecture, Sir Philip argues that only the United States can maintain a global order led by liberal democracies in today’s era of market states.

The lecture takes its name from Bobbitt’s forthcoming book The Bow of Odysseus, which references a moment in Homer’s The Odyssey. In that scene, Odysseus proves his identity by being the only one able to string and shoot his old bow, defeating the suitors vying for his wife, Penelope.

The Bow of Odysseus is the latest part of Bobbitt’s ongoing study of the modern state – a project he began with The Shield of Achilles, which examines how law, warfare, and political order have evolved from the 15th century to the 21st. In it, Bobbitt argues that these forces have created a new form of political community in the network era: the ‘market state’.

The Bow of Odysseus addresses America’s position in an international order shaped in the era of the market state and the necessity of the US in securing a world order led by liberal democracies and the challenges it faces.

About the speaker: Professor (Sir) Philip Bobbitt KBE

Professor (Sir) Philip Bobbitt is a distinguished American legal scholar and political theorist, renowned for his work on constitutional law, international security, and the history of strategy. His academic career includes serving as a Senior Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, and as a Senior Fellow in War Studies at King's College London. Sir Philip is currently the Herbert Wechsler Professor of Jurisprudence at Columbia Law School and a distinguished senior lecturer at The University of Texas School of Law.

Throughout his career, Sir Philip has held significant roles in the U.S. government across seven administrations, including Associate Counsel to the President, Legal Counsel to the Senate Select Committee on the Iran-Contra Affair, Counselor on International Law at the Department of State, and various senior positions at the National Security Council.

An accomplished author, he has written ten books, such as Constitutional Fate, The Shield of Achilles, and Terror and Consent. His scholarship has earned him recognition as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Royal Historical Society.

In 2021, Bobbitt was awarded an honorary Knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to UK–US relations and public life. This honor was later conferred by King Charles III in 2024.