Speaker: Andrew Livsey

Why and how did sea power thought develop in the Cold War? In this seminar, Andrew Livsey will explain how long-term investment in intellectual development and organisational commitment enabled the US Navy to move from a position of relative ignorance in the inter war period to producing the Maritime Strategy in the 1980s, while in the same period the Royal Navy lost some of its ability to think.

Outside the navies, the post-1945 'second founding' of International Relations initially hindered the advancement of sea power thought. However, a recovery emerged—supported in part by the rise of War Studies at King's. This talk will examine the key drivers behind the development of Cold War sea power thinking, and the major conclusions it produced.

About the speaker

After twenty five years as a warfare officer in the Royal Navy, Andrew Livsey is doing a PhD at King’s on the development of sea power thought in the Cold War. His work has been published in War in History, the RUSI Journal, and The Mariner’s Mirror. He was awarded the Sir Michael Howard Prize for his MA at King’s in 2017 and completed the Hudson Fellowship at Oxford in 2021-22. His research interests include strategic thought, maritime power, and naval tactics.

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!