Dr Christoper John Jenner is Senior Research Fellow, Defence Studies Department, King’s College London, as well as Principal Investigator (PI) and Project Director (PD) of Bounding Power in the Island Chains. His research involves work with serving and former policymakers and practitioners in the UK, US, and across the Indo-Pacific.

Educated at Oxford, Dr Jenner holds a Master of Studies and a Doctor of Philosophy in Modern History. Before joining King’s, he served as First Sea Lord Fellow, Royal Navy and Research and Teaching Fellow, Joint Services Command and Staff College, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. He was also Visiting Research Fellow, University of Cambridge; Senior Fellow, University of Oxford; Economic and Social Research Council Fellow, University of Oxford; and Junior Research Fellow, St Cross College, Oxford.

In addition to his academic duties, Dr Jenner undertakes governmental analytical assignments, including editing the highly praised Indo-Pacific Brief for policymakers, practitioners, and commanders. He has held various consultancy appointments across Asia, Europe, and the US.

Dr Jenner welcomes opportunities to talk with undergraduates who share his experience of being a first generation university student. He operates an open door policy for serving military personnel, practitioners, commanders, and policymakers who share his research or operational interests. Among his leisure activities he enjoys sharing ideas; properly brewed coffee and tea; jazz, classical, and contemporary music; Renaissance and twentieth century art; various air, land, and sea sports; travel; and East Asian food.

Research Interests

Dr Jenner is an historian of international relations in the Indo-Pacific. His geographic gaze is often captured by South East Asia. Vietnamese and Chinese language archive materials and eye-witness oral history interviews frequently comprise a large part of the evidential base for his work. The century between the Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895) and the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis (1995-1996) is his primary though not exclusive period of research, including the cognitive power of these ten decades to shape the perception of international relations today. Anchored in International History, his interdisciplinary research ranges across various domains of engagement including:

• Climate
• Culture
• Deterrence
• Development
• Diplomacy
• Economics
• Intelligence
• Linguistics
• Media
• Politics
• Psychology
• Science
• Technology
• War

Dr Jenner is a professional practitioner of primary source based Applied History incorporating interdisciplinary Net Assessment and Computational Archival Science research methods.

As PI-PD, he is leading a multi-year assessment on maritime diplomacy in Sino-American relations.

Peer Reviewed Publications

Books and Chapters

• Jenner, C. J., “BRUSA: Antecedents, Founding, and Formative Conduct, 1940-43” in Kennedy, G., and W. James, ed., Transatlantic Storms in Anglo-American Relations: How the Alliance Weathers Crises (forthcoming Georgetown University Press, 2026).
• Jenner, C. J., “PME in the South China Sea: A Comparative Investigation of Professional Military Education for Naval Infantry,” Eds. Perez, C., et al., The Routledge Handbook of Professional Military Education, (forthcoming London, 2026).
• Jenner, C. J., “Struggles for Prestige and Power, 960-2020” in Zou K., ed., Routledge Handbook of the South China Sea (London, 2021).
• Jenner, C. J., “Military Attaché, Accidental Agent: Colonel Bonner Fellers’ Defence Engagement Mission in Cairo, 1940 – 42” in Kennedy, G., ed., Defence Engagement Since 1900 (Lawrence, 2020).
• Jenner, C. J., “International Threat-Making in a Semi-Enclosed Sea: A Survey of Challenges to Cooperation in the South China Sea, 1949 – 2014” in Zou K. ed., Maritime Cooperation in Semi Enclosed Seas: Asian and European Experiences (Boston and Leiden, 2019).
• Jenner, C. J., The South China Sea: A Crucible of Regional Cooperation or Conflict-making Sovereignty Claims? (Cambridge, 2016 [Paperback 2018]). Edited with Trần Trường Thủy.
• Jenner, C. J., “History, Strategy, and the South China Sea” in Jenner, C. J., ed., The South China Sea: A Crucible of Regional Cooperation or Conflict-making Sovereignty Claims? (Cambridge, 2016 [Paperback 2018]).
• Jenner, C. J., “Domestic Politics: The Overlooked Under-current in the South China Sea,” with Nguyễn Hùng Sơn, in Jenner, C. J., ed., The South China Sea: A Crucible of Regional Cooperation or Conflict-making Sovereignty Claims? (Cambridge, 2016).
• Jenner, C. J., “Sino-American Rivalry in the South China Sea: Is it Time to Form a Maritime Middle Power Cooperative?” with Sukjoon Yoon, in Jenner, C. J., ed., The South China Sea: A Crucible of Regional Cooperation or Conflict-making Sovereignty Claims? (Cambridge, 2016).
• Jenner, C. J., “Making Peace in Hà Nội and Washington: General John W. Vessey’s Presidential Emissaryship to Việt Nam, 1987-94” in Diplomats at War: The American Experience, editors Stewart, A. and Rofe, J. S. (Dordrecht, 2013).
• Jenner, C. J., From Revolution to Cold War: A Brief History of Fort Trumbull (New London, 2002). Commissioned monograph for the U.S. Naval Undersea Warfare Centre, Newport, Rhode Island.

Journal Articles

• Jenner, C. J., “The Diplomacy of Pragmatism: Hà Nội, Washington, and the Making of a New Relationship in Reagan’s First Term, 1981-1985,” Diplomacy & Statecraft (forthcoming in 2025).
• Jenner, C. J., “Command, Strategic Contest, and Confidence-building in the South China Sea,” Orbis, vol. 65:3 (Summer 2021).
• Jenner, C. J., “Engaging the Changing Order in South East Asia,” Journal of International Studies [Tạp chí Nghiên cứu Quốc tế], số 32 (June 2015).
• Jenner, C. J., “Turning the Hinge of Fate: Good Source and the UKUS Intelligence Alliance, 1940–1942,” Diplomatic History, 32:2 (April 2008).