KCLA Annual Address 2021

The King's College London Alumni Association (KCLA) Address gives alumni and their guests an opportunity to hear a distinguished member of the Association speak on a topic of major current interest. The withdrawal of allied forces from Afghanistan, along with America’s increasing unilateralism at a time of heightened tension with China and Russia, makes Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman’s insight on ‘The Future of the Western Alliance’ particularly topical and important.

Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman joined King’s as Professor of War Studies in 1982 and remained as Head of Department until 1997; he served as Vice-Principal of the College between 2003 and 2013. Professor Sir Freedman is one of the country’s most respected commentators on contemporary defence and foreign policy issues. As the official historian of the Falklands campaign, he authored The Official History of the Falklands Campaign: War and Diplomacy (Routledge, 2005) and was subsequently a member of the Chilcot Inquiry into the UK's involvement in the 2003 Iraq War and the lessons to be learned from it.