This workshop brings together new research being conducted at the National University of Singapore and King’s College London on the question of the nature and character of Great Britain’s strategy for the defence of the realm in the Far East between the World Wars. Focusing primarily, but not exclusively, on the two core themes of the role of maritime power and Anglo-American strategic relations in Britain’s strategic thinking, the workshop will analyse questions associated with issues of alliance formulation, intelligence, economic power, strategic narratives and strategic culture. It will focus on key personalities, places and events, highlighting areas of continuity and inconsistency in British strategic thinking regarding the provision of security in the Far East during the interwar period. All are welcome to attend, and there will be coffee and tea served at the half-way point of the afternoon.

PANEL

The Elephant in the Room: The Jellicoe Empire Mission and Imperial Defence in the Asia Pacific, 1919-22
Professor Brian Farrell, History Department, National University of Singapore. 

"I simply have not got enough Navy to go round:" The Singapore Naval Base and Anglo- American Strategic Relations, 1937-1941
Charles Jason Burgess, History Department, National University of Singapore. 

The True Architect of Victory: Ambassador Sir Ronald Lindsay and Anglo-American Strategic Relations, 1933-1940
Professor Greg Kennedy, Defence Studies Department, King’s College London. 

Register via Eventbrite.

Malcolm Murfett is a visiting full professor in the Department of War Studies at King's College London. An Oxford Blue and double international, he obtained his doctorate from New College in 1980 and became a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1990. He has written and edited more than a dozen books on naval and defence themes including Naval Warfare 1919-1945 (2013), Cold War Southeast Asia (2012), Between Two Oceans (2011), Imponderable but Not Inevitable (2010), The First Sea Lords (1995), In Jeopardy (1995), Hostage on the Yangtze (1991), The Limitations of Military Power (1990), and Fool-proof Relations (1984). His latest manuscript European Navies and the Conduct of War is being published by Routledge in July 2018. He is also an associate editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and the series editor for Cold War in Asia.

Brian P. Farrell is Professor of Military History at the National University of Singapore, where he has been teaching since 1993. His principal research interests are the history of imperial defence in the British Empire, the Western military experience in Asia, and the history of grand strategy. He is the author of The Basis and Making of British Grand Strategy 1940-1943: Was There a Plan? (1998), The Defence and Fall of Singapore 1940-1942 (2005; 2015), co-author of Between Two Oceans: A Military History of Singapore from 1275 to 1971 (1999; 2010), Malaya 1942 (2009), and editor of several volumes, including contributing Series Editor of Empire in Asia: A New Global History (2018).

Charles Burgess is a PhD candidate in military history at the National University of Singapore. He holds a BA degree in history from American University and an MPhil degree in history from the University of Glasgow. Prior to embarking on his PhD studies, Charles spent nearly 15 years working for the US government in various Asia-focused analytical and operational positions, including a diplomatic position at the US Embassy in Manila. Charles' broad research interests are military, diplomatic, and international history, focusing on grand strategy, coalition warfare, and anti-imperial resistance forces. His PhD thesis examines Allied strategy in WWII in the area now called Southeast Asia, with a specific focus on the role organised anti-Japanese resistance forces played in that strategy.

Greg Kennedy is Professor of Strategic Foreign Policy at King's College London and joined the Defence Studies Department in June 2000. He has taught at the Royal Military College of Canada, in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, for both the History and War Studies Departments. He is an adjunct Professor of that university. His PhD is from the University of Alberta, with an MA in War Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada, and a BA (Hons) in History from the University of Saskatchewan. He has published internationally on strategic foreign policy issues, maritime defence, disarmament, diplomacy and intelligence.