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Alessio Patalano

Professor Alessio Patalano

Professor of War & Strategy in East Asia

  • Director, King’s Japan Programme

Research interests

  • Conflict
  • History
  • International relations
  • Security

Biography

Alessio Patalano is Professor of War & Strategy in East Asia at the Department of War Studies (DWS), King’s College London (KCL) where he specialises in maritime strategy and doctrine, Japanese military history and strategy, East Asian security, and British defence policy towards the Indo-Pacific. Prof Patalano is the Director of the King’s Japan Programme and the newly established Indo-Pacific Programme at the Centre for Grand Strategy, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS), a Visiting Professor at the Japan Maritime Command and Staff College (JMCSC), and an Adjunct Fellow at the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies, Temple University Japan.He is a Senior Fellow at the think tanks Policy Exchange, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), and Sir Herbert Richmond Fellow on naval strategy at the Council on Geostrategy.

He is also visiting fellow at the Royal Navy Centre for Strategic Studies (RNCSS) and non-resident fellow at the Royal Australian Navy Seapower Centre. From 2006 to 2015, he was visiting professor at the Italian Naval War College (ISMM), Venice. In Japan, Prof Patalano has held affiliations at Aoyama Gakuin University, the National Defence Academy, and at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS). In 2022, Prof Patalano became the first specialist advisor on the Indo-Pacific to the Foreign Affairs Committee in the UK Parliament. Prof Patalano is an active media commentator and writer (Nikkei, The Spectator); he collaborates on international documentaries, and is also regularly involved in military education, developing and delivering programmes on East Asian affairs.

 

Research Interests

Prof. Patalano’s research on Japanese military history and strategy has received international recognition and has been recently credited to define the application of a strategic studies methodology to the study of contemporary Japanese security (CSBA 2020, 23).

His current research focuses on maritime strategy, Chinese hybrid strategy and maritime coercion, Sino-Japanese maritime territorial disputes, and the relationship between military power and statecraft in Japan. Unfolding from this theme, he is currently writing a book on the impact of navies on statecraft and world order, titled 'Steel and Statecraft'. He maintains active research collaborations with institutions across continents, from North America, to East Asia and Australia.

 

Selected Publications:

  • A. Patalano (with J. Russell and Cat Grant), eds., The New Age of Naval Power in the Indo-Pacific (Georgetown University Press, 2023).
  • A. Patalano (with J. Russell), eds., Maritime Strategy and Naval Innovation: Technology, Bureaucracy, and the Problem of Change in the Age of Competition (Naval Institute Press, 2021).
  • A. Patalano (with M. Faulkner), eds., The Sea and the Second World War: Maritime Aspects of a Global Conflict (University Press of Kentucky, 2019).
  • A. Patalano, Japan as a Sea Power: Imperial Legacy, Wartime Experience, and the Making of the Post-war Navy (Bloomsbury, 2015).
  • A. Patalano (ed.), Maritime Strategy and National Security in Japan and Britain. From the Alliance to Post-9/11 (Brill/Global Oriental, 2012).
  • A. Patalano, ‘Why is a British Carrier Strike Group Heading to the Indo-Pacific?’, War on the Rocks, 11 August 2021.
  • A. Patalano (with Christopher Hughes, and Robert Ward), ‘Japan’s Grand Strategy: The Abe Era and its Aftermath’, Survival, Vol. 61, 2021:1, 125-160.
  • A. Patalano, ‘What is China’s Strategy in the Senkaku Islands?’, War on the Rocks, 10 September 2020.
  • A. Patalano, ‘The Silent Fight: Submarine Rearmament and the Origins of Japan’s Military Engagement with the Cold War, 1955-1976’, Cold War History, published online, 25 June 2019.
  • A. Patalano, ‘When Strategy is Hybrid and Not Grey: Reviewing Chinese Military and Constabulary Coercion at Sea’, The Pacific Review, Vol. 31, 2018:6, 811-839.

For a full list of publications please visit the Research Portal or download this document: Alessio Patalano Publications

 

Teaching

  • BA2 War and Strategy in East Asia
  • BA3 Contemporary Strategy in East Asia
  • MA East Asian Security

PhD supervision

Prof. Patalano is happy to consider supervision for projects concerning any aspect of military history, strategic, and security issues of Japan and modern/contemporary East Asia.

 

Research

EIS_EU_Flags_MAIN
Centre for Grand Strategy

The Centre for Grand Strategy seeks to bring a greater degree of historical and strategic expertise to statecraft, diplomacy and foreign policy.

ESRChero
Environmental Security research group

The Environmental Security research group brings together scholars from the security community and scholars working on issues of environmental security.

Arts&ConPROMO
Arts & Conflict Hub

The Arts & Conflicts hub uses artistic mediums to communicate, teach and research the complexities of conflict

Indo-pacific reefs
Indo-Pacific research group

Examining the geo-political strategy of the Indo-Pacific and its relationship with other states.

News

Athena Series launched at King's to celebrate exceptional women in strategy

Security & Defence PLuS—a collaborative partnership between King’s College London, Arizona State University and the University of New South Wales...

Baroness Gisela Stuart Hon Capt RNR gives speaks at a lectern with a Royal Navy banner behind her

King's academic uses simulation to inform UK's Indo-Pacific strategy

Professor Alessio Patalano and Dr Walter Ladwig III have played a pivotal role in shaping the parliamentary report "Tilting Horizons: The Integrated Review...

Tilt Report

War Studies Academic honoured for Strengthening UK-Japan defence ties

Professor Alessio Patalano is the first academic to receive the prestigious Ambassador's Commendation from the Japanese government for enhancing security and...

Japan Commendation 1

Australian and UK ministers outline importance of the Indo-Pacific region to global security and prosperity

The Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and the UK Minister of State for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan spoke of the importance of deepening...

The Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and the UK Minister of State for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan at King's

Saki & Michael Dockrill Memorial Lecture focuses on controversial aspects of Kissinger's legacy

Professor Thomas Schwartz delivered a fascinating insight into Henry Kissinger to a large in-person and online audience

kissinger no text

War Studies signs new partnership agreement with University of Tokyo

The agreement establishes a new collaborative MA programme with the Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Tokyo.

Attendees at the online signing of the Memorandum of Agreement.

Security Studies academics contribute to UK government's foreign policy and defence review

School of Security Studies Academics contributed to the Integrated Review

whitehall

Events

05Jul

Strategic Thinking in Japan: Bridging the 1945 Divide

Conference exploring the theme of grand strategic thinking in Japan from a historical perspective.

Please note: this event has passed.

25Apr

From Concept to Practice: Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific from Abe to Kishida

The talk reviews Abe’s legacy in forging an alternative vision to the Belt and Road Initiative and examines how Prime Minister Kishida has sought to take it...

Please note: this event has passed.

31May

Britain’s Integrated Review and the Russia-Ukraine War

British Grand Strategy and the Integrated Review: A Year On - Part two of a three part series

Please note: this event has passed.

17May

Beyond Continental and Maritime – The Integrated Review and the Future of British Grand Strategy

British Grand Strategy and the Integrated Review: A Year On - Part one of a three part series

Please note: this event has passed.

10Jun

Assessing the UK’s Integrated Review: The Implications for Regional and International Order

A projection on Britain’s future relationship with China and the EU

Please note: this event has passed.

20Apr

Myanmar as Asia’s First Failed State? Reflections From Interventions in Syria and Libya

In this event, the panel will explore the regional and international implications on Myanmar’s potential state collapse, which portends a very large scale...

Please note: this event has passed.

18Nov

Shinzo Abe: The Iconoclast who changed Japan - In Conversation with Tobias Harris

Join us to discuss Tobias Harris' new book, 'The Iconoclast: Shinzo Abe and the New Japan', in conversation with Dr Alessio Patalano

Please note: this event has passed.

02Dec

The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere: In Conversation with Jeremy Yellen

Jeremy Yellen will join us to discuss his new book 'The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere' in conversation with Dr Alessio Patalano.

Please note: this event has passed.

10Nov

Japan and the Invention of Chinese Nationalism - In Conversation with Bill Hayton

Bill Hayton will join us to discuss his newly published volume 'The Invention of China' in conversation with Dr Alessio Patalano.

Please note: this event has passed.

26May

The False Promise of Liberal Order

The Engelsberg Applied History Programme presents: 'The False Promise of Liberal Order: Nostalgia, Delusion and the Rise of Trump’

Please note: this event has passed.

Features

Rethinking Naval Diplomacy in a Contested Global Order at Sea: A Framework for Naval Statecraft

Professor Alessio Patalano delves into the shift from "naval diplomacy" to "naval statecraft" due to the changing dynamics of the global order at sea.

Naval Statecraft 1903

The Renewal Feeling of New Academic Beginnings

A commentary piece written by Prof Alessio Patalano for our latest Centre for Grand Strategy newsletter

Kings banner

A new voice to debate the most consequential region of our time

A commentary piece by Professor Alessio Patalano for our monthly CGS Newsletter

Aus:NZ flag

Principled, nimble, and sharp: Rishi Sunak sets the course for Britain's foreign policy in a maritime century

A commentary piece by Professor Alessio Patalano for our monthly CGS Newsletter

Rishi Sunak Banquet - banner

Why does AUKUS matter? An assessment one year on.

Professor Alessio Patalano has written a piece on the one year anniversary of AUKUS on why it matters

AUKUS - banner

The most significant naval loss since the Falklands War: The sinking of the Moskva

A commentary piece by Prof. Alessio Patalano, on the sinking of the Moskva

Moskva 1903

Research

EIS_EU_Flags_MAIN
Centre for Grand Strategy

The Centre for Grand Strategy seeks to bring a greater degree of historical and strategic expertise to statecraft, diplomacy and foreign policy.

ESRChero
Environmental Security research group

The Environmental Security research group brings together scholars from the security community and scholars working on issues of environmental security.

Arts&ConPROMO
Arts & Conflict Hub

The Arts & Conflicts hub uses artistic mediums to communicate, teach and research the complexities of conflict

Indo-pacific reefs
Indo-Pacific research group

Examining the geo-political strategy of the Indo-Pacific and its relationship with other states.

News

Athena Series launched at King's to celebrate exceptional women in strategy

Security & Defence PLuS—a collaborative partnership between King’s College London, Arizona State University and the University of New South Wales...

Baroness Gisela Stuart Hon Capt RNR gives speaks at a lectern with a Royal Navy banner behind her

King's academic uses simulation to inform UK's Indo-Pacific strategy

Professor Alessio Patalano and Dr Walter Ladwig III have played a pivotal role in shaping the parliamentary report "Tilting Horizons: The Integrated Review...

Tilt Report

War Studies Academic honoured for Strengthening UK-Japan defence ties

Professor Alessio Patalano is the first academic to receive the prestigious Ambassador's Commendation from the Japanese government for enhancing security and...

Japan Commendation 1

Australian and UK ministers outline importance of the Indo-Pacific region to global security and prosperity

The Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and the UK Minister of State for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan spoke of the importance of deepening...

The Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and the UK Minister of State for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan at King's

Saki & Michael Dockrill Memorial Lecture focuses on controversial aspects of Kissinger's legacy

Professor Thomas Schwartz delivered a fascinating insight into Henry Kissinger to a large in-person and online audience

kissinger no text

War Studies signs new partnership agreement with University of Tokyo

The agreement establishes a new collaborative MA programme with the Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Tokyo.

Attendees at the online signing of the Memorandum of Agreement.

Security Studies academics contribute to UK government's foreign policy and defence review

School of Security Studies Academics contributed to the Integrated Review

whitehall

Events

05Jul

Strategic Thinking in Japan: Bridging the 1945 Divide

Conference exploring the theme of grand strategic thinking in Japan from a historical perspective.

Please note: this event has passed.

25Apr

From Concept to Practice: Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific from Abe to Kishida

The talk reviews Abe’s legacy in forging an alternative vision to the Belt and Road Initiative and examines how Prime Minister Kishida has sought to take it...

Please note: this event has passed.

31May

Britain’s Integrated Review and the Russia-Ukraine War

British Grand Strategy and the Integrated Review: A Year On - Part two of a three part series

Please note: this event has passed.

17May

Beyond Continental and Maritime – The Integrated Review and the Future of British Grand Strategy

British Grand Strategy and the Integrated Review: A Year On - Part one of a three part series

Please note: this event has passed.

10Jun

Assessing the UK’s Integrated Review: The Implications for Regional and International Order

A projection on Britain’s future relationship with China and the EU

Please note: this event has passed.

20Apr

Myanmar as Asia’s First Failed State? Reflections From Interventions in Syria and Libya

In this event, the panel will explore the regional and international implications on Myanmar’s potential state collapse, which portends a very large scale...

Please note: this event has passed.

18Nov

Shinzo Abe: The Iconoclast who changed Japan - In Conversation with Tobias Harris

Join us to discuss Tobias Harris' new book, 'The Iconoclast: Shinzo Abe and the New Japan', in conversation with Dr Alessio Patalano

Please note: this event has passed.

02Dec

The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere: In Conversation with Jeremy Yellen

Jeremy Yellen will join us to discuss his new book 'The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere' in conversation with Dr Alessio Patalano.

Please note: this event has passed.

10Nov

Japan and the Invention of Chinese Nationalism - In Conversation with Bill Hayton

Bill Hayton will join us to discuss his newly published volume 'The Invention of China' in conversation with Dr Alessio Patalano.

Please note: this event has passed.

26May

The False Promise of Liberal Order

The Engelsberg Applied History Programme presents: 'The False Promise of Liberal Order: Nostalgia, Delusion and the Rise of Trump’

Please note: this event has passed.

Features

Rethinking Naval Diplomacy in a Contested Global Order at Sea: A Framework for Naval Statecraft

Professor Alessio Patalano delves into the shift from "naval diplomacy" to "naval statecraft" due to the changing dynamics of the global order at sea.

Naval Statecraft 1903

The Renewal Feeling of New Academic Beginnings

A commentary piece written by Prof Alessio Patalano for our latest Centre for Grand Strategy newsletter

Kings banner

A new voice to debate the most consequential region of our time

A commentary piece by Professor Alessio Patalano for our monthly CGS Newsletter

Aus:NZ flag

Principled, nimble, and sharp: Rishi Sunak sets the course for Britain's foreign policy in a maritime century

A commentary piece by Professor Alessio Patalano for our monthly CGS Newsletter

Rishi Sunak Banquet - banner

Why does AUKUS matter? An assessment one year on.

Professor Alessio Patalano has written a piece on the one year anniversary of AUKUS on why it matters

AUKUS - banner

The most significant naval loss since the Falklands War: The sinking of the Moskva

A commentary piece by Prof. Alessio Patalano, on the sinking of the Moskva

Moskva 1903