Date and time mentioned are in Singapore time, UTC+8.

Abstract

This webinar will present the current issue of the Journal of Strategic Studies, which focuses on how select militaries are integrating, adapting and leveraging emerging technologies and the varying strategic and operational implications. Its core themes will reflect on the position of the Artificial Intelligence wave in the context of previous Revolutions in Military Affairs; how Russia and China are adopting and integrating emerging technologies and the differences between the various innovation and adaptation models; and the operational implications of emerging technologies in potential flashpoints such as the South China Sea and the Baltic Sea.

This special issue of the JSS, co-edited by Michael Raska, Katarzyna Zysk, and Ian Bowers, resulted from international research collaboration and a subsequent workshop (2019) co-organised by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, and the Institute of Security and Defence Policy at Kiel University.

About the Panellists

Joe Maiolo is an historian of international politics specialising in the origins of great wars, arms races and intelligence in the twentieth century. He holds BA and MA degrees from the University of Toronto in history and philosophy. He completed his PhD in International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1996. Before coming to King’s in September 2001, he held appointments at the universities of Leicester and Leeds. In 2005-06 he was senior visiting research fellow at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, Oslo, and from 2014-19 he was Visiting Research Professor at the Norwegian Defence Intelligence School, Oslo. He is the editor of the Journal of Strategic Studies, and a member of the editorial board for Intelligence & National Security, and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Michael Raska is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Military Transformations Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. His research interests focus on the evolution of military technologies and defence innovation, wars and conflicts in East Asia, and cyber-enabled information conflicts. He is the author of Military Innovation and Small States: Creating Reverse Asymmetry (Routledge, 2016) and co-editor of Security, Strategy, and Military Change in the 21st Century: Cross-regional Perspectives (Routledge, 2015). His publications include articles in journals such as the Journal of Strategic Studies, Strategic Studies Quarterly, PRISM – Journal of Complex Operations, Journal of Indo–Pacific Affairs, Korean Journal of Defence Analysis, and Sirius – Journal of Strategic Analyses.  His academic contributions include chapters in edited volumes in collaboration with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, European Union Institute for Security Studies, Center for New American Security, University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, and Swedish Defence University.

Katarzyna Zysk is a Professor of International Relations and Contemporary History at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies (IFS), which is part of the Norwegian Defence University College (NDUC) in Oslo. After joining the IFS in 2007, she has served as Deputy Director, Head of Security Policy Centre, and Director of Research, and was Acting Dean of the Defence University College, where she teaches regularly. She was a Visiting Scholar at the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) at the Stanford University and at the Changing Character of War Centre at the University of Oxford, as well as Research Fellow at the Center for Naval Warfare Studies (Strategic Research Department) at the US Naval War College, where she also cooperated closely with the War Gaming Department. Currently, she also serves as a Core Group Member of the the Transatlantic Forum on Russia (Centre for New American Studies), as a Nonresident Research Fellow at the Atlantic Council, as a Governing Board Member of the European Initiative for Security Studies, and as an Advisory Board Member of the Transatlantic Deterrence Dialogue Initiative.

Following her 2006 PhD on NATO enlargement, her research has focused on security, defence and strategic studies, in particular Russia’s military doctrine, strategy and warfare, the Russian Navy, maritime security and geopolitics in the Arctic, military change, defence innovation and breakthrough technologies. Her published research has appeared in SAIS Review of International Affairs, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Journal of Strategic Studies, Asia Policy, RUSI Journal, Politique Etrangère, Jane’s Navy International, War on the Rocks, and other outlets, including in books published by Cambridge and Oxford University Presses.

Elsa B. Kania is an Adjunct Senior Fellow with the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. Her research focuses on Chinese military strategy, military innovation, and emerging technologies. Her book, Fighting to Innovate, should be forthcoming with the Naval Institute Press in 2022. At CNAS, Ms. Kania has contributed to the Artificial Intelligence and Global Security Initiative and the “Securing Our 5G Future” program, while acting as a member of the Digital Freedom Forum and the research team for the Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and National Security. Ms. Kania also works in support of the U.S. Air Force’s China Aerospace Studies Institute through its Associates Program, is a Non-Resident Fellow in Indo-Pacific Defence with the Institute for the Study of War, and is a Non-Resident Fellow with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s International Cyber Policy Centre. She serves as an Adjunct Policy Advisor for the non-profit Institute for Security and Technology; contributes to the Party Watch Initiative at the Center for Advanced China Research; and co-founded the China Cyber and Intelligence Studies Institute, a non-profit research collaboration. Her writings and commentary have appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Lawfare, Politico, Defence One, The Strategist, and The Bridge, among others. Currently, Ms. Kania is a PhD candidate in Harvard University’s Department of Government.

Ian Bowers is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Joint Operations at the Royal Danish Defence College. His research focuses on deterrence, the future operational environment, seapower and East Asian security. He has been published in a number of international journals including International Security, the Journal of Strategic Studies, the Naval War College Review, and the Korean Journal of Defense Analysis. His most recent co-authored work, titled “Conventional Counterforce Dilemmas: South Korea’s Deterrence Strategy and Stability on the Korean Peninsula” was published in International Security. Bowers has also published a monograph on the modernisation of the Republic of Korea Navy and edited volumes on seapower and military change. Bowers holds a PhD in War Studies from King’s College London.

Thomas G. Mahnken is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. He is a Senior Research Professor at the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at The Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He currently serves as a member of the Congressionally-mandated National Defense Strategy Commission and as a member of the Board of Visitors of Marine Corps University. His previous government career includes service as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Policy Planning from 2006–2009, where he helped craft the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review and 2008 National Defense Strategy. He served on the staff of the 2014 National Defense Panel, 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review Independent Panel, and the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction. He served in the Defense Department’s Office of Net Assessment and as a member of the Gulf War Air Power Survey. He served for 24 years as an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve, to include tours in Iraq and Kosovo. In 2009 he was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service and in 2016 the Department of the Navy Superior Civilian Service Medal