King’s Maritime History Seminars: Procurement for Peace

Speaker: Alex Clarke

Since the end of WWII, a vital piece of the conflict management arsenal—the tools that allow governments to try to prevent conflict, let alone war, from breaking out—has ceased to be created. As a result, the systems that allowed for the early treatment of this scurrilous disease have disappeared. This is because, in the Cold War, for the political classes everything to do with defence procurement became about fighting a war, and deterrence was a strategic action, not a conventional one. It all became about the show of strength, the superiority of technology and finding efficiencies in ways which focus on the financial cost of things without considering the less quantifiable benefits. This paper will explore all of this, as well as examine six case studies of procurement to see what can be learned to improve policies in the future.

About the speaker

After completing his PhD at King's with Andrew Lambert, Alex Clarke worked teaching the ‘History of Engineering & Academic Skills’ at Kingston University in the Engineering Department, whilst guest lecturing at other universities on History, International Relations, and International Conflict. He has written a well-received book on the development of the Royal Navy's large destroyers, Tribals, Battles & Darings, which is in its second edition.

Alex has appeared on all episodes of the video series, Mysteries of the Deep and one series of War Factories. He has also been taking part in the live talk show, Armchair Admirals for World of Warships, for the last few years. He has been the convening host of the CIMSEC Bilgepumps Podcast for its entire three and a half year run. Alex also has his own Youtube channel and helped found and organise the ‘Ship Shape Naval History Collaborative Group’.

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!

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Host or Publisher School of Security Studies